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Bilbao et le Musée Guggenheim

So at last, I’m finally here in Bilbao, Spain. I’ve been meaning to make this trip since the spring of 2001. I figured I’d just take a train up from Barcelona one weekend, but that never happened. Then I suspected that I’d come down from Glasgow during spring break. But alas, it was not until early this morning that I set foot in this fair city. And I must say that it’s been every bit worth the wait!

For those of y’all who don’t know, Bilbao is home to Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum. The building’s created such as stir with all the tourists it’s brought to town and essentially placing this industrial city on the world’s cultural map that other cities around the world are now wanting to get in on the so-called “Bilbao effect.” But don’t be so easily deceived to think that the folks in charge of things here have put all their eggs in one architect’s basket - ready to ride the wave of architectural fashion. No, the city invested their resources well and over the past decade or so have gotten other internationally acclaimed designers such as Santiago Calatrava and Norman Foster in on some of the major projects.

But, of course, it is Gehry’s museum that steals the show! If the outside could be called impressive, there isn’t a word fine enough in English, Spanish, or Basque to describe the interior! It’s been fun to watch visitors often more caught up in the building than in the art. But in spite of my fears that the building would completely over-power the art within, for the most part the collection on show creates a near-perfect synthesis with the building. There’s an unexpected harmony that exists between the art and the architecture similar to the way the titanium-skinned mass of the building makes peace with its surroundings - neighboring buildings, the river, and the hills.

I’m only here until tomorrow before making my way to Italy via Lyon.