F. GEHRY: GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM, ABU DHABI

ESPAÑOL

Saadiyat, in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, is probably the most important cultural project in the Middle East and one of the most impressive in the world. Among the most conspicuous cultural projects are works of Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid , Tadao Ando and Jean Nouvel , which we will review in this and subsequent pages of this moleskine.

ABOUT ABU DHABI

Given the importance of Dubai in the UAE, many confuse this city with the real country's capital, Abu Dhabi. While Dubai has always had a more important commercial role, Abu Dhabi is a much larger emirate (85% of the UAE's territory) and with huge oil reserves for 100 years, unlike Dubai's case, where oil is almost exhausted.

Abu Dhabi in late 60s. Photo taken at the Cultural Centre of Abu Dhabi.

It seems incredible that just 50 years ago Abu Dhabi was just a group of temporary shacks made of palm leaf, dispersed in the sand. There were no roads, schools, nor infrastructure ... its development was even behind Dubai's.

Model of Abu Dhabi in the 60s. Photo taken at the Cultural Centre of Abu Dhabi.

Nowadays progress in the capital is evident and sometimes impressive, although I must say that Dubai is a more dynamic and active city (my friend from Dubai would use the adjective "fun").

Taking advantage of the huge amount of resources available, authorities from Abu Dhabi have proposed a plan to revitalize the city, distancing themselves from the chaotic, commercial  and somewhat hedonistic model of their rival Dubai, and proposing a cultural and environmentally friendly city instead.


The plan, which is envisioned for 2030, emphasizes four main areas: green, work, life and connection (see video promo).

Saadiyat

One of the most impressive developments in Abu Dhabi city is called Saadiyat or "Island of Happiness" (happiness which, of course does not include the exploited  Indians or Pakistanis workers who build it ), emphasizing cultural tourism and 160,000 luxury residences.


This $ 27 billion project is a 27 km2 island aims to transform Abu Dhabi in the cultural center of the country, includes a number of facilities located in the waterfront, designed by some of the most famous architects of our time : the Guggenheim Museum (Frank Gehry), the Performing Arts Center (Zaha Hadid), the Maritime Museum (Tadao Ando) and the Louvre (Jean Nouvel). Thus Abu Dhabi seeks also outrun Doha in Qatar, which had hitherto been the main commitment to culture in the Gulf, with its Museum of Islamic Art, designed by IM Pei .

Moreover, the cultural district will feature 19 international pavilions dedicated to art, crossed by a network of canals, along with a branch of New York University (Cambridge, Carnegie Mellon, Texas, Northwestern and others already have offices in Qatar).

t is remarkable this turn to culture as such activities are not very profitable, and is likely that the government would end up assuming much of this enormous cost in the short term. But certainly this intervention will have a big impact on the education and cultural development of the region.

GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM

"“It was clear from the beginning that this had to be a new invention. The landscape, the opportunity, the requirement, to build something that people all over the world would come to and the possible resource to accomplish it opened tracks that were not likely to be considered anywhere else. The site itself, virtually on the water or close to the water on all sides, in a desert landscape with the beautiful sea and the light quality of the place suggested some of the direction."

Frank Gehry.

After the success of his museum in Bilbao, Frank Gehry was in charge of the project for the Guggenheim Museum in Abu Dhabi. With over 30,000 m2, will be the largest of all the Guggenheim museums, and the program will include galleries for permanent and temporary collections, an art and technology center, archives, library, research center and a laboratory for the conservation and restoration of art the latest technology, all arranged on 4 levels.

Schematic plans of the second and third levels.
The system of bridges connecting the different galleries, a scheme already used in Bilbao, is used again in Abu Dhabi.

The project is located on a breakwater at the end of a peninsula, surrounded by water on three sides, in a unique position within the complex.

Furthermore diagonally crosses a canal and facing the building, ensuring water reflections an effect similar to the Taj Mahal.

For the design process, Gehry used some local formal references, such as the wind towers, typical of  the vernacular architecture of the Emirates.

Overlaying these opaque boxes along with other translucent conical elements, he obtained a more "serene" composition than other previous project of the author, providing a counterpoise between the opaque and the translucent but avoiding the use of metal sculptural forms (Ghery's favorite material), something that in this region of ​​high solar radiation and steamy temperatures would have been insufferably dazzling.

These conical elements also take part of the concept of wind towers, and not formal but functionally, to provide sun protection, channel breezes and expel warm air naturally.

But besides these vernacular elements, Gehry has used references to industrial spaces that will be used for large-scale exhibitions (something had already been included in the Fish Room of the museum in Bilbao ). In any case we can guess there will be a repertoire of scales, heights and feelings displayed  through a series of galleries connected by bridges and organized around a central atrium. Particularly interesting is the low number of windows, perhaps to pay tribute to the of the introverted and massive Islamic tradition.

While this design, whose final product presents a group of tilted boxes, gives the impression of being part of the Deconstructivism, I think it has differences with this movement. Deconstructivism (represented by Peter Eisenman , Daniel Libeskind and somehow, Rem Koolhaas ) is based on the rotation, translation and decomposition of simple volumes according to precise rational rules, overlapping volumes and spaces based  on topological relationships of the Object- building with itself and its environment. Gehry's work however (more similar to Miralles) takes a more sculptural approach, by adding, overlaying and rotating volumes as a   more subjective and personal design process, as it wasdemonstrated in the documentary "Sketches of Frank Gehry"  by Sydney Pollack.

In the next post we will review the proposal by Zaha Hadid for the Performing Arts Center.

SEE ALSO

- Other works by Frank Gehry .

• Sculpture in Barcelona
• Millenium Park, Chicago
  
• Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain.
  
• Pavilion at Serpentine Gallery, London
• Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, USA

Together with my friend Ahmed in front of the Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi, where the exhibition about Saadiyat took place. A night here costs between $ 1,500 and $ 37.000 (I'm not sure if breakfast is included). In subsequent posts I will include some views of this "modest hostel."

F. GEHRY: GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM, BILBAO

ESPAÑOL

"The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is the greatest building of our time."

Philip Johnson

Love it or hate it, nobody can deny that Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Museum put Bilbao on the map. Since its opening in 1997, millions have included the capital of Biscay as their destinations because of this building, including us.


And while the international media have pondered the genius (or madness) of the Canadian-American architect of Jewish origin, the fact is that the museum's success is due to the confluence of 4 main actors:
1) The Basque Administration, who created the plan for revitalizing Bilbao, contacted the Guggenheim Foundation and paid for the construction of the museum.
2) The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, who lent its name by way of "franchise" and provided the collections to ensure the quality of the exhibitions.
3) Frank O. Gehry & Associates Architects, who proposed a futuristic and attractive project and revolutionized the practice of architecture, by including computer assisted programs during the complicated process of design and construction.
4) The Basque firm IDOM, who carried out the construction of the project within cost and time scheduled, a rarity in buildings like this one.

Photo courtesy of Orvaratli

But the success was not only confined to the museum, as it became a catalyst for the urban and economic renewal of th  city in what has become known as "the Bilbao effect."

ABOUT BILBAO

Bilbao, the largest city in the Basque country, flanked by green hills, spreads along the Nervion River valley, crawling and twisting into an estuary that finally meets the Cantabrian Sea.


I liked the cozy scale of its streets -some of them traced during the middle ages-, the proportion of its buildings of elaborated facades and the contrast between the green landscape and the red roofs, including some churches that appear in the skyline.

Cathedral of Bilbao

Undoubtedly the quality of its vernacular architecture was linked to the economic progress of the city, historically linked to industry. However, the economy began to decline from the 80s, due to competition from Southeast Asian countries. Many factories closed, reaching levels of unemployment of 35%.

Metro Station by Norman Foster

BACKGROUND

In the early 90s  Bilbao Metropolis was formed, a public-private institution who made a plan to revitalize the city. This plan included the environmental recovery of the Nervion River and the construction of an art museum as a catalyst of the city, but not necessarily both projects at once (in fact the proposed site was on another location).
For its part, the foundation Solomon R. Guggenheim was going through a serious economic crisis, despite the enormous wealth he possessed, 95% of which was held in storage by the museum in New York. Thomas Krens, director of the museum, was looking to create a branch of the Guggenheim in Europe.
Although initially Krens was not very keen on developing the museum in the little-known Spanish city, the seriousness and enthusiasm of the local authorities convinced him: the city of Bilbao would build a museum and upon payment of the franchise the foundation would provide some works of art from its costly and unique collection, as well as assessment.


LOCATION

Krens was jogging along Princes of Spain Bridge when he noticed an abandoned industrial land along the Nervión River, and immediately suggested this location to the Authority of Bilbao. Located on a bend of the river and in a lower level than the rest of the city, it was an elongated area extending slightly below the De la Salve Bridge.

See location on Google Maps

THE CONTEST

In 1992, the foundation  invited 3 offices of architects to develop schematic designs. Arata Isozaki, Coop Himme(l)blau and Frank Gehry. Proposals should be developed in 3 weeks.
Isozaki schemes pointed to an elliptical cylinder base, which then would be more or less materialized in Centennial Hall in Nara . Meanwhile, Coop Himme (l) blau proposed a series of cubic transparent volumes, achieving interesting reflections at night. Finally they chose Gehry's proposal, the most innovative project of the three.

Proposals Isozaki, Coop Himme (l) blau and Gehry for the museum in Bilbao.

URBAN CONCEPT

Since its inception, Gehry tried to involve the project within a larger urban scheme, revitalizing the waterfront, exploring the places from where better views could be enjoyed and those where the museum should have a more modest scale.


The museum's sculptural forms came from various references. Towards the city, covered with limestone brought from Andalusia, the most stable volumes dialogue with the urban surroundings.


Towards the river, the most dynamic metal elements express the fluidity of water, elements of nature (like a flower), figures of boats and even representations of fish (fish are common in Gehry's repertoire, such as the sculpture on the coast of Barcelona). In addition, the architect draws a reference to sculptures workshop Constantin Brancusi (of different sizes and shapes), the film Metropolis by Fritz Lang (1927) and the very energy of the city of Bilbao.


Gehry used a rich repertory of materials and languages, alternating stone, glass and metal in a studied composition that produces different sensations from the place you see it. For example, our first contact with the building was coming from the west along the riverbank, where we welcomed by a group of box-shaped volumes coated in stone. A metallic volume of horizontal proportions seems to float over them. It is followed by another dramatic volume similar to the bow of a boat. Next, there is a glass wall, built upon a metal structure.

Photo courtesy of Martin .

In front of that glass wall there is a large cylindrical column supporting a vaulted roof, that from the distance gives the impression of being the entrance to the museum. But we deceive ourselves, and when we get there we found no entrance, just a giant spider, the famous Maman, a sculpture by Louise Bourgeois .

Photo courtesy of Mick h 51 .

Next, a series of elongated volumes simulating a fish form the great gallery, which is accompanied by a huge stone staircase leading to the  De la Salva Bridge.

Photo courtesy of Arrano .

Photo courtesy of gatogrunge

Another important urban component is the circulation along the riverfront. Using a pond in front of the museum, the architect reflects the adjacent waterfront, and using the circulation in a theatrical and dynamic way (it reminds me of the promenade cinematique in Tschumi's Parc de la Villette), gives the impression that the river reaches the edge of the building. What is missing is a public space in the waterfront itself.

Photo courtesy of Rawarma .

Photo courtesy of rafallano .

However, a different sensation is experienced if coming from the city. While the metal forms are clearly distinguishable from the narrow traditional streets, as one approaches the urban scale is changed and becomes less monumental, and we are received by stone volumes, whose rectangular windows dialogue with the other surrounding buildings.
A large square, an expansion which covers a route that passes beneath the complex, organizes the volumes and serves as a prelude to the building.


Here we met Puppy, a floral sculpture by Jeff Koons, which had been intended as temporary, but became so popular that it ended up as a permanent exhibit.

However, the entrance itself is a bit odd, since it is almost hidden, sunk respect to the street level, which is reached after descending a wide staircase.

Details of  the entrance

ARCHITECTURE

The museum's design process was very complicated and in many respects innovative. After the architect's expressive schematic design and the scaled models were built, the complex as built plans had to be implemented. Gehry's team pioneered the use of CATIA, a software used in the airplane industry, in order to generate three-dimensional volumes of the building and calculate its materials and cost estimate. The program was used in both the design as well as the construction of many building elements and finishing details, since, given the building's sculptural character, no single element was repeated  (particularly the titanium plates).


As we saw in other works by Gehry, as the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles or the pavilion in Millennium Park in Chicago, sculptural forms are achieved by means of a structural steel frame which is covered with metal plates (this is especially evident at the Guggenheim in the tower alongside the Salve Bridge). Hence the theatrical, superfluous and dynamic nature that has characterized Gehry's works.



The architect chose to coat the surfaces facing the river with 0.3 mm thick sheets made of an alloy of titanium and zinc, with posses outstanding durability and ductility as well as provide a better color than steel due to the cloudy climate of the city -according to the architect.


The building is organized into around a central space, around which 20 galleries are arranged in  3 levels. Towards the west end we found a shop, a cafeteria and an auditorium.

First level is organized around the great court.
1. Auditorium. 2. Gallery. 3. Store. 4. Fish Gallery. 5. Atrium. 6. Tickets. 7. Store. 8. Facilities. 9. Ponds.

Second level, where the galleries are connected by air bridges. Note the succession of square galleries, ending in an irregular space.
1. Accessible. 2. Library. 3. Restaurant. 4. Galleries. 5. Atrium.

Third level, many of the spaces correspond to double heights of the lower levels.
1. Roof. 2. Stairs. 3. Void. 4. Galleries. 5. Atrium.

Longitudinal and cross section, at the height of the central atrium.

The interior is dominated by the central atrium, 50 feet high, one of the most impressive and monumental spaces I've seen, displaying the dramatic and convoluted volumes and circulation galleries that connect them.



In addition, both the atrium and the galleries the space visually integrate to the external landscape, incorporating the cityscape as part of the building component.



The elevators are covered by these glass plates resembling flakes, another reference to the aquatic world that were formerly used in "The Dancing House", designed by Gehry and Milunic on the banks of the Vltava River in Prague.


The largest room (130 m long), an elongated nave that evokes the shape of a fish, is intended for monumental sculptures. In fact, the works of Richard Serra housed there were made ​​especially for the gallery, and assembled during the the process of construction of it (as was done in the Salon De Maria in the Chichu Art Museum by Tadao Ando, for instance). The rusty-metal color undulating forms swing echoing the space that contain them, to establishing a dialogue with the building. In contrast, the labyrinth is a group of sculptures based on triangular geometry.


In contrast, a sequence of galleries on the second level has identical square shapes, which is accessed by a lateral movement.



Gehry also studied the sunlight, so that the works are illuminated generously but in controlled way, especially during the summer months.

CRITICISM 

Many critics have pondered the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao as a masterpiece, a contribution to the profession and a catalyst that has brought economic and cultural development to the city. Gehry has been catapulted  almost to a sidereal fame and received several awards, becoming one of the most sought after architects of our time, despite his 84 years.

For some other critics, however, Gehry's architecture is personalistic and megalomaniac, the building lacks an appropriate scale and does not offer a free connection between the city and the river. Some of the blind walls the building houses favor the development of crime and in general the lack of adequate public space prevents social interaction, which itself exists in other areas of Bilbao.

Contrast between solitary and unfriendly public space of the Guggenheim and the busy and vital Doña Casilda Park, located near the museum.

Moreover, as the case of New York's Guggenheim , the museum's architecture is still far more striking than the works of art it contains.

Nevertheless, I think the Guggenheim museum shows the best Gehry, it is both an innovative and mature sculpture but somehow related to its surroundings. However, it seems to me that after Bilbao his works  became repetitions of the Guggenheim but without same success or consistency of design. One such case is designed for the Guggenheim Museum New York, among many other projects that followed the pattern of "twisted cans piled on stacked  boxes."

Proposal not built by Gehry for the Guggenheim in Lower Manhattan, New York.

Something different, however, is its proposal for the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi , which together with other monumental projects from famous architects  will form an impressive urban development in the capital of the UAE. We will take it a look from the next post. Until then.

SEE ALSO

- OTHER WORKS OF FRANK GEHRY .

• Guggenheim Museum, Abu Dhabi
• Sculpture in Barcelona
• Millenium Park, Chicago
  
• Serpentine Gallery Pavilion in London
• Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, USA

- MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART.

• Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA. Frank L. Wright (1943-59) 

• 21st Century Museum, Kanazawa, Japan. SANAA (1999-2004)
• Hoki Museum, Chiba, Japan. Tomohiko Yamanashi (2008-10)
• Kolumba Museum, Cologne, Germany. Peter Zumthor (2003-07)
• Miho Museum, Shiga, Japan. I. M. Pei (1997)
• Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, Japan. Le Corbusier (1959)
• National Art Center, Tokyo, Japan. Kisho Kurokawa (2000-06)
• Suntory Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan. Kengo Kuma (2004-07)
• Watari-Um Gallery, Tokyo, Japan. Mario Botta (1985-90)