“The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is a modern and contemporary art museum designed by Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry, built by Ferrovial and located in Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain. It is built alongside the Nervion River, which runs through the city of Bilbao to the Atlantic Coast. The Guggenheim is one of several museums belonging to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. The museum features both permanent and visiting exhibits featuring works of both Spanish and international artists.”
“The curves on the building have been designed to appear random. The architect has been quoted as saying that “the randomness of the curves are designed to catch the light”. Designed by Canadian/American architect Frank Gehry and opened to the public in 1997, it was immediately vaulted to prominence as one of the world’s most spectacular buildings in the style of Deconstructivism. Architect Philip Johnson called it “the greatest building of our time”.
The museum’s design and construction serve as an object lesson in Gehry’s style and method. Like much of Gehry’s other works, the structure consists of radically sculpted, organic contours. Sited as it is in a port town, it is intended to resemble a ship. Its brilliantly reflective titanium panels resemble fish scales, echoing the other organic life (and, in particular, fish-like) forms that recur commonly in Gehry’s designs, as well as the river Nervión upon which the museum sits. Also in typical Gehry fashion, the building is uniquely a product of the period’s technology. Computer Aided Three Dimensional Interactive Application (CATIA) and visualizations were used heavily in the structure’s design.”
“The mission of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is to collect, conserve, and study modern and contemporary art, to exhibit the art of our times from a variety of perspectives in the context of art history, and to reach a broad and diverse audience .
As one of the cornerstones of the Guggenheim Museum Network, and a symbol of the Basque Country’s vitality, we hope to promote an understanding, appreciation, and enjoyment of art and its values in an iconic architectural setting.”
“The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, which opened in 1997, has quickly become one of the most famous museums in the world. The museum’s collection focuses primarily on American and European art from the 20th century, featuring styles such as Pop Art, Minimalism, Arte Povera, Conceptual Art and Abstract Expressionism, as well as artwork that contemporary European and American artists created specifically for the museum. ”
