Guggenheim Museum
The Guggenheim Museum is a work of art, with its ship-like design blending superbly with the port city of Bilbao, Spain. Belonging to the Solomon R Guggenheim Foundation, the museum's striking contemporary features often compete with the works of art featured in its permanent and visiting exhibitions. Its stunning exterior is covered in titanium panels which reflect natural light, creating a beacon-like glow that complements the building's eye-catching shape.
The Guggenheim's structure is a combination of irregular polygons required to maintain architect Frank Gehry's fluid design. Its complex curves and contours were developed using 3-D computer modelling, and the building was eventually built using titanium, glass and limestone.
Gehry's vision had to be engineered without the assistance of any previous benchmark project, which required careful decision making when selecting materials for the structural frame. Engineers broke with tradition and used steel framing to form the skeleton for the Guggenheim's flowing curves.
When officially opened in 1997, the New York Times Magazine described the museum as the "Bilbao miracle", which is testimony to its original structural design. The Guggenheim's broad appeal to both art enthusiasts and everyday tourists has provided the spark that is now turning the former industrial hub into a popular destination in its own right.
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