Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

Those of you who know me well know that I have always had a side interest in architecture. And those of you who know me very well also know that I do not normally take a strong liking to modern architecture. I much prefer the grandeur and beauty of classical architecture to the haphazard and willy-nilly designs of much modern architecture. But one of the modern buildings I have always found enthralling is the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, was designed by architect Frank Gehry and built in 1997. It is a very well-know building by now, and certainly is unique in its curvaceous lines and whimsical stature. Its close proximity to the water also makes it seem to flow along with the ebb and tide of the sea. So yes, this is a modern building that I can stomach and even appreciate. And Gehry has other buildings that I find very attractive – the Disney Opera House in L.A., for example, is quite wonderful. But Gehry also has some (what I find to be) atrocious buildings – namely, the Experienced Music Project (EMP) building in my home city of Seattle. Why did Seattle have to get such a jumbled mess of a building? I would have much preferred something like that of the Guggenheim Bilbao for my beloved hometown. Oh well – nobody asked for my advice when the time came to commission a building from Gehry.