A2: Case Study - Frank Gehry "Guggenheim Museum" Bilbao, Spain

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The Guggenheim Museum located in Bilbao Spain presents an expressionist modernist style within an urban context, of a temperate climate. Designed by Frank Gehry, this art museum originally opened on the 19 October 1997, portraying a curvilinear free form sculpture, constructed upon a steel frame covered by titanium sheathing (1). Frank Gehry portrayed his unique biomorphous form developed from cubist dismemberment of geometric bodies to the Guggenheim Bilbao Museoaren Fundazioa clients with the intent of conveying an architectural landmark while intending to redevelop the Basque metropolis away from social unease and economical downturn (4).

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Bilbao is positioned in the Bay of Biscay of Northern Spain, once one of Spain’s most important ports, home to the countries manufacturing, commerce and shipping centres. Overall the buildings present 24,290m2 of space, upon which 10,560m2 is reserved for exhibitions over three floors interconnected by glass elevators and suspended walkways (4).

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The Guggenheim’s site is located on the Nervion River, as Frank Gehry’s design proposal identified an interconnection between Spain and the Guggenheim’s legacy. The overall construction was completed within four years, while one is able to identify particular design influences, such as the glass atrium, inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright’s rotunda of the New York Guggenheim or the largest of the gallery spaces inspired by the cities transverse Puente de La Salve Bridge (2). Through the museums natural components Gehry interconnects the visitors experience with the outdoors through such features as the large glass walls and titanium elements which reflects that of the scales of a fish (3). The overall structure appears to alter throughout time due to the manner in which matter is focused upon the heterogeneous topography without distorting the aesthetical distance, alluding to movement, growth and dynamism. In the concluding we identify that the individual perception is one of a Basque world view regarding international capital and culture (4).

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Sources

1. Matthews, Kevin. 2001. “Guggenheim Museum Bilbao”, Great Buildings. http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Guggenheim_Bilbao.html (Accessed September 27, 2010).

2. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. 2010. “Bilbao”, Guggenheim. http://www.guggenheim.org/bilbao (Accessed September 27, 2010).

3. Kocisky, Katherine. April 11, 2010. “Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain”, Suite101. http://www.suite101.com/content/guggenheim-museum-in-bilbao-spain-a224224 (Accessed September 27, 2010).

4. Naredi-Rainer, Paul von. Birkhauser, Switzerland, 2004. A Design Manual Museum Buildings, “Guggenheim Bilbao Museoa” (pp. 218-221).

A2: Frank Gehry "Vitra Museum", Final Renders

The image above portrays the external render which I produced regarding the Vitra Design Museum. I decided to enhance the realism comparison I would compose a montage between the original building and the original photograph.

The image above presents the interior render I produced regarding the group modelling of the Vitra Design Museum. I decided to capture this particular view due to manner in which it presents various components of the overall composition.

A2: Frank Gehry "Vitra Museum", Final Model

Image 1: Main Entrance

Image 2: Sky View Front

Image 3: Rear Corner

Image 4: Rear Sky View

Image 5: Rear Corner Sky View

Image 6: Interior Galley Space, Ground Floor

Image 7: Interior Upper Floor Space

Image 8: Interior Main Entrance

A2: Frank Gehry "Vitra Museum", Group Modelling Task

- Group Members -

Benjamin Knowles
Anthony Chami
Christopher Stringer

Stage One: To begin the modelling process we placed the floor plan within Google Sketch-Up before then tracing the outline using the pencil and arc tools in association with the protactor to ensure corners, normals and wall thickness remained precise, as this stage would be the foundation of the entire model.

Stage Two: This stage involved simply raising (using the push pull tool) the traced out floor plan outline to the maximum height of the entire building, found using the elevations.

Stage Three: This particular stage involved precisely placing each of the sections and elevations provided as well as the second level floor plan. This stage was slightly difficult due to the point that each drawing needed to be scaled to a uniform dimension.

Stage Four: This stage involved using the placed and scaled sections, elevations and floor plans to cut away un-needed wall material from the previously raised outline. This included doorways and opening as well outlining the placement of some windows.

Stage Five: This stage involved the forming of the basic cross skylight location and rotation, as well as other features of the building such as the triangular corner skylight, in the most basic and pure forms.

Stage Six: This stage involved completing the cross skylight, excluding the actual skylight glass and fame. However such included the two level height cut at the base of the cross, as well as the formation of the curved wall entering in the middle.

Stage Seven: This stage focused on completing the rear of the building, including the final placement of doors and windows, as well as the installation and placement of the roof.

Stage Eight: This stage saw the completion of most of the basic exterior form pieces, such as the skylights, as well as most of the roofing. However not including the curved roof at the front of the building and unique form over the main entrance.

Stage Nine: Stage nine focused upon the completion of the curved stair case running up to the second floor, as well as the beginning of the curved roof near the entrance.

Stage Ten: This stage saw the completion of most of the model, mainly including the complex curved roof at the main entrance, and the curved roof running up the front stairs. This stage also saw the beginning of modelling the rear spiral stair case.

Stage Eleven: This stage saw the completion of all the basic forms of the model, including the spiral stair case and unique piece over the main entrance. All left to complete is the skylight frames and glass as well as a few little windows.

- Additional Research -

To complete the modelling task of the Vitra Design Museum our group didn't really require much additional material as we found the provided images and drawings quite adequate. However we did use the two following images below as additional reference points.

The image above was used as a reference regarding the formation of the roof, as there were limited provided photographs and drawings documenting the interconnection of the various roof lines and sections.

The image above presents a very useful site plan which our group used as an additional source in the modelling of the roof sections as well as the exact placement of the various skylight forms such as the large cross.