30th May 2014
In 1991 the Basque government invited The Guggenheim Foundation to build a museum in Bilbao.To cover the USD100 million construction cost the governement got Ferrovial ( a Spanish Infrastructure Conglomerate) to build the building at a cost of of USD 89 million. A USD 50 million fund was set up for acquisitions, a USD20 million paid to Guggenheim for planning and developing the museum and a promise was made to subsidise the USD12 million annual expenditure.
In return the Guggenheim Foundation agreed to manage the museum, rotate its permanent exhibitions and and organise temporary exhibitions at the museum. The Bilbao Guggenheim was opened in 1997.
The museum was built as part of the revitalisation programme of the city. It became a popular tourist destination almost immediately and within the first 3 years almost 4 million visitors came to Bilbao bringing in a revenue of Euros 500 million. The regional council estimated that out of this it managed to collect Euros 100 million in taxes - more than enough to offset its construction cost.
From across the river the gleaming museum looks like a collection of boats or fish. Its architect - Canadian American Frank Gehry - in his discussion about his design described that he was always fascinated by the fish since the days of his childhood. And the fact that Bilbao was historically also home to a thriving boat-building industry was also a factor in his conceptualisation of the building. The walls of the museum was layered with titanium cladding to give the impression of fish scales. The titanium sheets are as thin as a tissue paper yet so strong to make it suitable to be used in the building.
The large light-filled atrium ( due to its glass walls) allows a great view of River Nervion as well as the surrounding hills. The architect, Frank Gehry, called this atrium The Flower due to its shape - and the exhibition halls and galleries extend out from this atrium on 3 levels.
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