Product Description

No building was more anticipated than Frank Gehry's stunning new museum in Bilbao, an industrial city in the Basque Country of northern Spain. Philip Johnson, the dean of American architects, declared it "the greatest building of our time," while Sverre Fehn, winner of the 1997 Pritzker Architecture Prize, called the building "fantastic." Gehry's use of nontraditional materials and his sensitivity to the environments of his buildings is legendary; his method of envisioning a building through semiautomatic drawings and handmade models is little known, but provides an immediate entry into his creative process. This book celebrates the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and details its design process, bringing to life one of Gehry's greatest achievements. Coosje van Bruggen, who has collaborated with Gehry on various architectural and art projects, documents the history of the Guggenheim Bilbao from conception through design and construction. With unique access to the architect and his studio, she uncovers scores of fascinating drawings and working photographs, published here for the first time. Edited by Coosje Van Bruggen.~Foreword by Juan Ignacio Vidarte. Hardcover, 9.5 x 10.75 in./208 pgs / 170 color 60 BW0 duotone 0 ~ Item D20381

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1399402 in Books
• Published on: 2003-07
• Released on: 2003-07-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 208 pages

Review
This handsomely illustrated account ... recounts the execution of this historic commission. It also celebrates the most successful attempt yet by Thomas Krens, director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, to turn his institution into a worldwide franchise. -- The New York Times Book Review, Martin Filler

Customer Reviews

A Must Read for Gehry's Enthusiasts
I rather enjoyed this offering. Because I was such a great fan of his, I bought the book anyway despite the reviews written by other readers that it didn't contain much insight. In fact, this book was rather insightful. It was realised after the involvement of the author with the maestro himself over a period of 7 years. It's amazing to read about Gehry's inspiration from his favourite items, the 'fish' & the 'snake', & how it gradually evolves into something else completely different. The book explores his previous realised & unrealised projects, & their corelations with the Bilbao Museum. After exploring his subconscious & conscious minds thru random sketches mostly done in the plane or in hotel room, he would have his colleague, Chan built the models which they would constantly refine. I also learnt here that Gehry isn't a great fan of both computer & drawing plan. The blessing by Gehry of the usage of the computer program, Catia is a God sent because the other Principal understood that without its usage, it would be almost impossible to finish the project on time, on budget, or at all. The part about why he chose titanium instead of copper despite that it costs more is interesting to read. Here, we also learnt that Gehry is a team player & he credits other people's contribution to his project. One of them is Krens, the Guggenheim Foundation Director who assisted Gehry in forming spaces to display arts. He's the person who urged Gehry to trust his intuition to come out with huge spaces & yet, sculptural in nature. In other words, Gehry is fortunate to work with professionals who remain objective in their judgements & never steer him away from his vision. This book oozes with beautiful pictures, taken from all angles imaginable, in different lighting, & even pictures of the Museum under construction. There's also Appendix at the rear of the book mentioning all you need to know about this iconalistic project of our time. Highly recommended.

No big insights but a decent picture book.
This book does not provide any exceptionally insights into the Gehry's thinking and the use of computer modeling is no big surprise to anyone. The best book on Gehry, that I know about, is the monograph by El Croquis (which was published before the Guggenheim's realization). That said, I visited the museum shortly after it opened (bought book there) and it's a wonderful design. Although photos are never as good as the experience of being there, if you can't afford to visit Spain, a decent picture book will show you what you missed.

Excellent discussion of Gehry's Design Process
The collaborator and wife of Clas Olenburgh has written a very clear depiction of the series of events and creative process by which Gehry arrived arrived at his design. This book covers his working relationships with subordinates, his various modes of sketching, the form ideas he struggled with, the history of some of the forms he worked with within his own opus and the evolution of the overall design from early site visits through computer modelling.