The anniversary, which is celebrated today, October 18, recognizes the importance of the museum designed by the architect Frank Gehry, who is celebrating its 20th anniversary. A project that was the international trigger for the transformation of Bilbao, at the end of the 20th century or at the beginning of a new millennium.

In the early 1990s, Thomas Krens, the director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation (The foundation had been born in 1937 as a prelude to its first building, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright next to Central Park in New York.) decided to look for a new headquarters, to be complemented in Europe with the headquarters of the Venier dei Leoni Palace, on the Grand Canal, in Venice, donated by Peggy Guggenheim in 1969.

The search in Europe for a new site for the museum led Krens and Gehry to Bilbao, invited by the Basque Government, in an attempt to revitalize the declining port city, with abandoned factories and shipyards.

Initially raised in the Alhóndiga de Bilbao, it would finally be raised in its current location in the Ría, and the international competition would end up being won by Frank Gehry.
During the period of construction of the museum, it was usual to hear the architect born in Toronto, Canada, how openly acknowledged that the project was his "masterpiece" even though he had already obtained the Pritzker Prize (1989).

A series of concomitant causes allowed the success of the project, which even changed its position after the contest. To this was added the development of computer programs that allowed the calculations of the undulating forms of the design of a personal architecture, which incorporated new forms and materials, and also lacked the trust of a few clients, who wanted to renew their city, in whom generated the confidence to monopolize the cultural budget of the city. The risk was great (there was always the possibility of a terrorist attack by ETA) and the play was fortunately profitable at all levels, both urban, economic, social, image, and politically.

The project was so acclaimed that the expression "Guggenheim effect" was coined to define the reconversion of a place through a single building. An effect that has had its followers and detractors, with notable aftershocks all over the world - without going any further the hotel signed for the Bodegas Marqués de Riscal in La Rioja or the headquarters of the Foundation Louis Vuitton of Paris - and also with notorious failures such as the rejection of the citizens of Helsinki to its construction or the development of a new headquarters on the shores of Manhattan.

Frank Gehry, Architect (via Guggenheim Museum)
 
Born in Toronto, Frank Gehry moved to Los Angeles with his family in 1947, at the age of 17. He opened his first small office there in 1962, and from the beginning, the visual character of that city had a profound impact on his work. Its stucco bungalows, chain-link fences, Spanish tiles, waving palms, and the motion and vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean are all a part of Gehry's architecture. His ability to capture a sense of place continues in his work today, even as the locations of his projects change. His designs in Europe and the Near East-Prague, Berlin, and soon Jerusalem incorporate an understanding of the old cities, yet never duplicate old forms. Rather, they respond in dialogue with those rich architectural histories.

Gehry came of age in Los Angeles along with a group of artists with whom he shared many ideas, among them Chuck Arnoldi, Larry Bell, Billy Al Bengston, Ron Davis, Robert Irwin, Ed Moses, Ken Price, and Ed Ruscha. His early architectural mentors were Rudolph M. Schindler and Frank Lloyd Wright, while the moulded plywood chairs of Charles and Ray Eames inspired his experiments with furniture. Gehry produced a number of significant works in his early career, but it was not until the 1977–78 transformation of his own Santa Monica residence-a small, pink, 1920s wood-shingled house-that he gained the attention of the architectural cognoscenti. Opening the kitchen and dining areas to the sky with cubistic windows and building a house around the house with layers of chain-link fencing, plywood, and corrugated sheet metal placed Gehry in a unique position among his peers.

One of Gehry's early dedicated clients was Loyola Marymount University. For an ongoing project that began in 1978, the architect has been developing a villagelike campus for the university's law school located in an industrial area near downtown Los Angeles. Because the client asked for a design that would refer to classical traditions, Gehry proposed-instead of one large structure-a cluster of buildings, "like an acropolis." Though initially met with scepticism by the faculty, the campus is widely acclaimed and often compared to Thomas Jefferson's exalted University of Virginia campus in Charlottesville.

Gehry's experiments with industrial design have been complementary to his architectural endeavours. Continuing to use unexpected materials in inventive ways, he created two lines of cardboard furniture. The first group, called Easy Edges (1969–73), was streamlined and durable, constructed with thick sheets of cardboard in which single layers were glued one on top of the other, alternating the grain, in the same way, that plywood is made. Later, the furniture became more sculptural, made with large, soft flutes of cardboard that were glued by hand and dubbed Experimental Edges (1979–82). In the mid-1980s Gehry created his playful Fish and Snake Lamps (1983-86) with Colorcore, a translucent plastic laminate, which he manipulated to capture the sense of motion that has always intrigued him. And in the early 1990s, Gehry designed his Bent Wood Furniture Collection (1989–92) for Knoll. Based on the method used to make the ordinary bushel basket, the series employs continuous strips of wood to form the shape and supporting structure of the furniture. More than 100 prototypes were made before the final four chairs, two tables, and an ottoman was produced. Each, like Cross Check and High Sticking, is named for a term in ice hockey, Gehry's favourite sport.

After the success of the Loyola Law School and other projects such as the Winton Guest House (1983–87) in Wayzata, Minnesota and a 1986 retrospective of his work at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Gehry won the commission to design the Walt Disney Concert Hall (1987–), his first major project in his home city. Sensitive to the fact that acoustics is the heart of a concert hall, he designed the building from the inside out. He began with a convex-box shape for the interior hall, lined it entirely with wood, implemented sail-like ceiling elements, and finally contained it in curved exterior walls clad in stainless steel. The complicated building, which took years to design, is now under construction in the heart of downtown Los Angeles, creating a cultural centre together with the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and the Museum of Contemporary Art.

Long an advocate of collaboration, Gehry has worked with artists Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen on several projects, most notably the Chiat/Day Building (1985–91) in Venice, California, and on several projects with sculptor Richard Serra, including a 1996 proposal for the Financial Times Millennium Bridge Competition in London. Recently he has partnered with architect David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill on a competition proposal for the New York Times Headquarters (2000) and with French architect Jean Nouvel on the ongoing Arena Centre (2000–), a redevelopment project in Prague. By participating in and often initiating these joint ventures, Gehry expresses his belief that architectural variety creates excitement in urban environments. That idea holds especially true in his projects that involve multiple-building complexes, such as the Vitra International Manufacturing Facility and Design Museum (1987–89) in Weil am Rhein, Germany, to which Tadao Ando, Nicholas Grimshaw, Zaha Hadid, and Alvaro Siza each contributed a building.

Gehry's best-known project to date is the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao (1991–97). With this major work, he has gained international renown and a following enjoyed by few architects today. Like many of his other important works-the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art (1990–93) at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, the Nationale-Nederlanden Building (1992–96) in Prague, and the Experience Music Project (1995-2000) in Seattle-Bilbao is a gateway building. Located on the Nervión River, the building envelops a bridge that leads travelers into and out of the city. With a variety of curvilinear and classical exhibition spaces, the museum offers a dynamic stage for Guggenheim's exhibitions, and since its opening in 1997, the museum has brought millions of visitors to a revitalized 19th-century city.

Looking ahead at several of Gehry's upcoming projects, the Peter B. Lewis Building, Weatherhead School of Management (1997–) at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio will provide an ingenious building indicative of Weatherhead's Internet-centered curriculum, and the Performing Arts Center at Bard College (1997–) in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York promises to be a vital new venue for orchestral, dramatic, operatic, and dance performances on Bard's campus. When completed, Gehry's proposed design for the Guggenheim Museum New York (1998-), to be located at the foot of Wall Street on the East River, will bring new artistic vitality to Lower Manhattan. Comprised of approximately 279,000 square feet of public-park space and an interior of 570,000 square feet, the new museum will house performing-arts centers, the Guggenheim's permanent collection, temporary exhibitions, a center for art and technology, and a center for architecture and design.

Frank Gehry, Architect presents nearly 40 of Gehry's most significant works and follows the evolution of his visual language and working process. Throughout the exhibition, many projects are illustrated with Gehry's signature gestural sketches that prefigure the forms to come. Programmatic and process models follow, and final design models and photographs depict the finished works. Within this scheme, the exhibition reveals the all-important interaction between Gehry and his clients and the strong working relationship he has with the many talented members of his staff.

The presentation of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao project was made possible thanks to the collaboration of Idom, which participated in the construction of the building.

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Gehry Partners, LLP. The Gehry Partners team on the Battersea project is headed by Craig Webb and Brian Aamoth. Gehry Partners, LLP is a full service architectural firm with extensive international experience in the design and construction of academic, museum, theater, performance, commercial, and master planning projects.

Founded in 1962 and located in Los Angeles, California, Gehry Partners currently has a staff of approximately 125 people. Every project undertaken by Gehry Partners has Frank Gehry personally involved. Frank is supported by the broad resources of the firm and the extensive experience of the firm’s senior partners and staff. On Battersea, the design team will be led by Craig Webb who has collaborated with Frank for over 20 years. Current projects include: Guggenheim Abu Dhabi; LUMA Foundation in Arles, France; Divan Orchestra in Berlin; Eisenhower Memorial in Washington, D.C.; King Street Development in Toronto, Ontario; Philadelphia Museum of Art in Philadelphia; Q-MOCA in Quanzhou, China; and West Campus for Facebook in Menlo Park, California. Projects under construction include the Puente de Vida Museum of Biodiversity in Panama; Foundation Louis Vuitton Museum in Paris, France and the Dr. Chau Chak Wing Building for the University of Technology, Sydney, Australia.

Raised in Toronto, Canada, Frank Gehry moved with his family to Los Angeles in 1947. He received his Bachelor of Architecture degree from USC in 1954, and studied city planning at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. He founded Gehry Partners, LLP, in Los Angeles in 1962, a full-service architectural firm that developed extensive international experience in the design and construction of academic, museum, theater, performance and commercial projects.

Hallmarks of Mr. Gehry’s work include a concern that people dwell comfortably within the spaces that he creates, and an insistence that his buildings address the context and culture of their sites.

Despite his international stature and renown, he continues to be closely associated with Los Angeles, where his 1978 redesign of his Santa Monica home launched his international career.

“Frank holds a special place in his art for the work of contemporary artists. He was a central figure in the contemporary art world in Los Angeles in the 1960s and 70s, working closely with Billy Al Bengston, Larry Bell, John Altoon, Bob Irwin, Ed Moses, Ed Ruscha and Ken Price. And he continues to work closely with artists, including Claes Oldenburg and Jeff Koons, for whom he has collaborated on deeply sensitive installations of their work,” said Cuno. “Given his contributions to architecture, and the Getty’s extensive research and collections in Los Angeles art and architecture at the mid-century and beyond, and the commitment of the Getty Conservation Institute, the Getty Foundation, and the Getty Research Institute to the conservation and study of modern architecture, it is fitting that we present Frank with our highest honor.”

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Frank Owen Gehry, was born in 1929 in Toronto (Canada), but adopted American nationality after moving to Los Angeles in 1947 with his parents. He graduated in Architecture in 1954 from the University of Baja California and began working in the studio of Victor Gruen. After completing his military service, he studied Urban Planning at Harvard and returned to Gruen’s office. He moved to Paris in 1961 with his wife and two daughters, where he worked for a year with André Rémondet. In 1962, he opened his own studio –Frank O. Gehry and Associates– in Los Angeles, from which he has worked on projects in America, Europe and Asia for five decades now.

He rose to prominence in the 70s for his buildings with sculptural forms that combine unusual industrial materials such as titanium and glass. During this same period, he began to develop a role as a designer of furniture with his Easy Edges collection, conceived as a low-cost range comprising fourteen pieces made out of cardboard, subsequently followed by the more artistic range, Experimental Edges. Since the late 80s, the name of Frank Gehry has been associated with the deconstructionist movement, characterized by fragmentation and the rupture of a linear design process, resulting in buildings with a striking visual appearance. The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao (1997) and the Nationale-Nederlanden building in Prague (1996), known as the Dancing House, may be considered among the most prominent examples of this formal language. Likewise noteworthy among his works are the Aerospace Museum of California (1984), the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, Germany (1989), the Frederick Weisman Art Museum in Minneapolis (1993), the DZ Bank building in Berlin (1998), the Gehry Tower in Hannover (2001), the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Stata Center in Cambridge (2003), the Walt Disney Concert Hall (2003) and the Maggie's Centre in Dundee, Scotland (2003). Gehry has also worked on a museum of contemporary art in Paris for the Louis Vuitton Foundation, the design of his first playground in New York, at the southern tip of the island of Manhattan known as The Battery, and the remodelling and recovery of Mayer Park in Lisbon, which included the restoration of the Capitolio Theatre. In Spain, 2006 saw the opening of the Herederos del Marqués de Riscal winery in Elciego (Álava), and he has also designed the Sagrera Tower in Barcelona.

His work has been the subject of numerous case studies and, in 2006, the film director Sydney Pollack released the documentary Sketches of Frank Gehry, presented at Cannes. In that same year, he presented his project for the new Guggenheim Museum in Abu Dhabi. In 2008, he designed the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion in Hyde Park, London. The first residential building in Asia designed by Gehry, the Opus Hong Kong tower, was opened in 2012. He is currently working on the design of the Eisenhower Memorial to be built in Washington; on the West Campus that Facebook is to build in Menlo Park, California and on the project of a residential tower in Berlin, which will become the tallest skyscraper in the city.

His designs have received over one hundred awards around the world. Noteworthy among the distinctions he has received are more than a dozen honorary degrees, the Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize (USA, 1977), the Pritzker Prize (1989), the Wolf Prize in Arts (Israel, 1992), the Praemium Imperiale (Japan, 1992), the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize (1994), the Friedrich Kiesler Prize (Austria, 1998), and the Twenty Five Year Award from the American Institute of Architects (2012). He also holds the National Medal of Arts (USA, 1998), the Lotos Medal of Merit (USA, 1999), the Gold Medal of the American Institute of Architects (1999), and the Royal Gold Medal for the promotion of architecture (2000), awarded by the Queen of England. Gehry has been a member of the Pritzker Prize Jury and of institutions such as the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the US National Design Academy and the Royal Academy of Arts.

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Published on: October 18, 2017
Cite: "Guggenheim XX. A building that changes its time. Guggenheim Bilbao Museum by Frank O. Gehry" METALOCUS. Accessed
<http://www.metalocus.es/en/news/guggenheim-xx-a-building-changes-its-time-guggenheim-bilbao-museum-frank-o-gehry> ISSN 1139-6415
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