Guggenheim Museum Bilboa Spain

‘Guggenheim museum, Bilbao’

The Guggenheim Museum

Bilbao Spain

Ashley Davidoff MD

Copyright 2012

Introduction

The Guggenheim museum Bilboa Spain

“When it opened in 1997, the Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim Museum Bilbao—a spectacular structure made of titanium, glass, and limestone—was hailed as the most important building of its time. Located on the Bay of Biscay, Bilbao is the fourth largest city in Spain, one of the country’s most important ports, and a center for manufacturing, shipping, and commerce. In the late 1980s the Basque authorities embarked on an ambitious redevelopment program for the city. By 1991, with new designs for an airport, a subway system, and a footbridge, among other important projects by major international architects such as Norman Foster, Santiago Calatrava, and Arata Isozaki, the city planned to build a first-class cultural facility. In April and May of 1991 at the invitation of the Basque Government and the Diputación Foral de Bizkaia, Thomas Krens, Director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, met repeatedly with officials, signing a preliminary agreement to bring a new Guggenheim Museum to Bilbao. An architectural competition led to the selection of California-based architect Gehry, known for his use of unorthodox materials and inventive forms, and his sensitivity to the urban environment. Gehry’s proposal for the site on the Nervion River ultimately included features that embrace both the identity of the Guggenheim Museum and its new home in the Basque Country. The building’s glass atrium refers to the famous rotunda of Frank Lloyd Wright’s New York Guggenheim, and its largest gallery is traversed by Bilbao’s Puente de La Salve, a vehicular bridge serving as one of the main gateways to the city. In 1992 Juan Ignacio Vidarte, now Director General of the Guggenheim Bilbao, was formally appointed to oversee the development of the project and to supervise the construction. Groundbreaking took place in 1993 and in 1997 a gala dinner and reception, attended by an international audience and Spain’s Queen Sofia and King Juan Carlos I, celebrated the inauguration of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.”

Courtesy guggenheim.org 01 guggenheim.org

The Museum at Night

Courtesy  guggenheim.org 02 guggenheim.org

Wikipedia Link

Blending and Contrasting with the Environment

Museum Centered Surrounded by A Tree in the Foreground, Office Buildings,  The Colorful Flowering Dog and The Green Hills

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Vertical Sculpture of Steel Balls, a Palm Tree and the Hills as a Backdrop

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Balls and Reflections

Indian artist Anish Kapoor Davidoff Photography Copyright 2012 112012p.8

Vectors

Horizontal Vectors

Vertical Vectors

Perspective of a Vertical Vector

Indoor Stairway

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Spiral vectors

Rounded Shapes

Steel Ball Sculpture

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Rectangular Shapes

The Rectangles

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Rectangles of Titanium and Limestone

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Rectangle of Light

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Rectangles of Light

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The Bathroom of the Guggenheim

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Sharp Angles

The Sharp Angles

Frank Gehry, architect Davidoff Photography Copyright 2012 111923p.8

Sharp Angles of Mama and the Museum

“Mama” Louise Bourgeois sculptor Davidoff Photography Copyright 2012 112052p.8

“Mama’s” Legs

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Triangles

Triangles

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Zig Zags

Zig Zag of Limestone and Titanium

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A Stairway, a Bridge, and a Wall making a Zig Zag Shape

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Radiations

Radiating Support Scaffolding

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Radiating Supports of the Umbrella and the Support for the Building

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Radiating Framework Supporting the Umbrellas

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Radiating Legs of Giant Spider “Mama”

giant spider ‘Mama’, sculptor Louise Bourgeois Davidoff Photography Copyright 2012 112030p.8

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giant spider ‘Mama’, sculptor Louise Bourgeois Davidoff Photography Copyright 2012 112042p.8

Combinations

Horizontal with Round

Horizontal Vector and Rounding of the Walls

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Horizontal with Sharp Angles

Horizontal Vector and Acute Angles

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Stairway and Wall of Museum Reveal a Horizontal Vector with a Sharp Angle

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Horizontal with a Vertical Vector

Vertical Vectors and Horizontal Vectors

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Umrella Like Structure with a Transverse Vector and a Vertical Vector

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The giant spider ‘Mama’, by Louise Bourgeois

  Guggenheim museum Bilbao Spain Frank Gehry, architect Davidoff Photography Copyright 2012 112031p.8

Portal to the Museum

Horizontal Path and Vertical Walls

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Perspective with Vertical and Horizontal Vectors

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Stairway

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Shapes and Colors of the Urinal

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Vertical Steel Balls with and Glass Skyscraper are in Contrast to the Horizontal Vector of the Office Buildings

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Rectangles

Rectangles with Sharp Angles

Rectangular Titanium “Bricks” and Walls Forming an Acute Angle

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Sharp Angles of the Umbrella and The Titanium Rectangles

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Rectangles and Sharp Angles

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Rectangles and Sharp Angles
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Rectangles with Triangles

Rectangles and Triangles

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Seating in the Hallway

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Rectangles with Rounding

Rounded POrtal to the Museum with Rectangular Footpath and Titanium “Bricks”

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Titanium Glass and Limestone Rectangles with Rounding of the Wall

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Angles and Rounding on the Stairway

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Balls and Rectangular Apartment Complex

80 Balls Stainless steel, Indian artist Anish Kapoor sculpture Davidoff Photography Copyright 2012 111995p.8

“Mama” with Rounded Form Outlines the Rectangular Blocks of the Apartment Building

giant spider ‘Mama’, sculptor Louise Bourgeois. Davidoff Photography Copyright 2012 112049p.8

Rectangles Sharp Angles and Rounding

Glass Titanium and Limestone

Rectangles Sharp Angles and Rounding

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Rectangles Sharp Angles and Rounding

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Rounding of the Colored Tulips, Rectangles and Sharp Angles

Jeff Koons sculptor  ‘Tulips’ Davidoff Photography Copyright 2012 112027p.8

Rectangles Sharp Angles and Rounding

Note a Little Nature

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Sharp Angles with Rounding

Sharp Angle of the Roof and Rounded Walls

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Furnitue with Sharp Angles Combined with Roundness

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