Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain

Architect
 Frank Gehry
Date Built
 1997
Location
 Av Abandoibarra, 2, 48009 Bilbao, Vizcaya, Spain
Description
It seems unnecessary to describe a Frank Gehry building as spectacular but his Guggenheim Museum, on the banks of the Nervion River in the heart of Bilbao, is a breathtaking structure.  The museum's website explains that due to the mathematical complexity of Gehry's design, ".... he decided to work with an advanced software initially conceived for the aerospace industry, CATIA, to faithfully translate his concept to the structure and to help construction. For the outer skin of the building, the architect chose titanium after ruling out other materials and seeing the behavior of a titanium sample pinned outside his office. The finish of the approximately 33,000 extremely thin titanium sheets provides a rough and organic effect, adding to the material’s color changes depending on the weather and light conditions. The other two materials used in the building, limestone and glass, harmonize perfectly, achieving an architectural design with a great visual impact that has now become a real icon of the city throughout the world."

















"Once inside the Hall, visitors access the Atrium, the real heart of the Museum and one of the signature traits of Frank Gehry’s architectural design. With curved volumes and large glass curtain walls that connect the inside and the outside, the Atrium is an ample space flooded with light and covered by a great skylight."















".It is possible to walk all the way around the Museum, admiring different configurations from each perspective and also a number of artworks installed outside." 

These include Jeff Koon's tulip sculpture.......




------ and his monumental 40 foot tall "Puppy".  "Puppy is a permanent installation, but twice a year, in May and October, all of the plants that make up the sculpture’s exterior are replaced with fresh seasonal varieties, including pansies for the fall and winter, and begonias, impatiens, and petunias for the spring and summer. The museum recently undertook this complex job, which requires 20 people and 9 days to complete, and freshened up Puppy’s coat for the summer with approximately 38,000 new flowers in hues of red and pink."




"Maman" is an almost 9 metre tall spider by the sculptor Louise Bourgeois.