Guggeinheim Museum Bilbao
Where: Abandoibarra Etorbidea 2, 48011
Opening hours: September to June, Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 8 pm. Closed on Monday and December 25 and January. The museum will close at 5 pm on December 24 and 31
July and August: Monday to Sunday from 10 am to 8 pm.
If you are planning to learn Spanish in Spain it is likely you will travel around to see some of the marvels the country has to offer and some of its impressive museums. If this is the case we recommend you not to miss out on this fantastic contemporary museum, for its artistic exhibitions as well as the wonderful building that houses it.
The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is a contemporary arts museum designed by Canadian architect Frank O. Gehry and it opened in 1997. It's one of the 5 museums of the Salomon R. Guggenheim foundation (the others are in New York, Berlin, Venice and Abu Dhabi)
The negotiations between the Basque authorities and the direction of the Guggenheim Foundation began in 1991 motivated, on the Basque government's side, by a drive to make the city more attractive for visitors and improve the local economy. The agreement was signed by the end of that same year. The architect and location of the museum were chosen in 1992.
The building was designed by architect Frank Gehry's firm and it was soon acknowledged as one of the most spectacular deconstructive buildings, so much that some critics say that the construction itself overshadows the artistic content of the museum. Its design and construction follows Gehry's style and methods and the main structure is sculpted with organic contours. According to the Guggenheim Foundation, the structure of the museum doesn't have a single flat surface. The exterior is covered by titanium plates and by a highly uncommon kind of limestone.
Seen from the river, the Guggenheim Bilbao building appears to have the shape of a ship and its shiny plates are similar to fish scales, which remind us of the organic forms present in many of Gehry's work. However from a birds eye view the building is shaped like a flower. For its design, the architect's team used computer simulations of the necessary structures, such that the shape attained would have been impossible only decades before.
To choose the exterior surface of the building of the Guggenheim Bilbao, Frank Gehry studied the feathers and scales of many animals and their fixtures as well as the possibility of movement. He finally decided to use rigid and superimposed scales. From the first moment he decided he wanted these scales to be metal and he studied several materials, dismissing stainless steel (as, according to Gehry, it did not match Bilbao's skies) as well as other materials, such as copper. In the end he decided to use a zinc and titanium composition. Each piece is of a unique shape, specific to the places it occupies, and each plate is slightly padded, perfectly to adapt to its place. The colour of each plate also varies according to the alloy combination.
Some of the museum's benchmark artworks are on the exterior such as Puppy, Jeff Koons' oversized West Highland White Terrier puppy (over 12 meters tall) made with a stainless steel structure covered by a variety of flowers. The sculpture was purchased by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and placed outside the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in 1997.
Another of the famous sculptures is Maman, by French artist Louise Bourgeois, which resembles a huge spider almost 10 meters high and 10 meters wide. The spider contains a sac with 26 marble eggs. According to Bourgeois, Maman is an ode to the strength of the mother ('Maman' is the French word for mother) with metaphors of spinning, weaving and nurturing.
The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao has its own collection which includes some of the most significant artists of the 20th century, such as Yves Klein, Willem de Kooning, Andy Warhol and Antoni Tàpies, among others. Nevertheless, even more impressive are some of its temporary exhibitions, such as Michelangelo's drawings, engravings by Dürer, etc.
Looking for more activities to do in Spain? Check out this comprehensive Spanish travel guide, it will give you all the information you need by regions, places to visit and plenty of fun activities!