This long riverside walk leading to the Guggenheim Museum is where plenty of Bilbaínos gather for the evening stroll, or paseo. Although the Nervión occasionally has problems with personal hygiene, Uribitarte is a lovely promenade that sometimes seems like the parade ground at a dog show as some seriously pampered pooches are brought out to take the city air. Guggenheim Museum Abandoibarra Etorbidea 2, T 944-359000, http://www.guggenheim-bilbao.es Tue-Sun 1000-2000, Jul/Aug only Mon-Sun 0900-2100. €7 admission, audio tour €3.61, guided tours free at 11.30, 1230, 1630, 1830 (Spanish, English, and Euskara depending on demand). Metro: Moyúa. Buses 13, 27, 38, 46, 48 stop a block away on Alameda Recalde. “The idea was that the building had to be able to accommodate the biggest and heaviest of contemporary sculpture on the one hand, and a Picasso drawing on the other hand. In the first sketch I put a bunch of principles down, then I become self-critical of those images and those principles, and that evokes the next set of responses…and those evolve, and at some point I stop, because that’s it.” Frank Gehry More than anything else, it is this building that has thrust Bilbao so firmly back on to the world stage. Daring in concept and brilliant in execution, it has driven a massive boom in the local confidence as well as, more prosaically, in the economy; its success has given the green light to further ambitious transformation of the formerly industrialised parts of the city. It all started when the Guggenheim Foundation, strapped for cash (or something like that…), decided to build a new museum to enable more of its collection to be exhibited. Many cities around the globe were considered, but the Basque government was prepared to foot the US$100 million bill for its construction. Frank Gehry was the man who won the design competition and his work is the reality of what confronts visitors to Bilbao today; a shining temple of a building that completely fulfils the maxim of “architecture as art”. Gehry’s masterstroke was to use titanium, an expensive soft metal normally reserved for Boeings and the like. Gehry was intrigued by its futuristic sheen and malleable qualities; the panels are literally paper-thin. The titanium makes the building shimmer and the impression is that the architect has managed to capture motion. The exuberant curves recall the shape of the fish, one of Gehry’s favourite motifs; the structure could almost be a writhing school of herring or salmon. One of the most impressive features of the design is the way it interacts with the city. One of Bilbao’s most enjoyable experiences is to look up when crossing a street in the centre of town and see the Guggenheim framed by older buildings, like some unearthly vehicle that’s just landed. Gehry had to contend with the ugly bulk of the Puente de la Salve running through the middle of his site, yet managed to incorporate the bridge fluidly into his plans. The raised tower at the museum’s eastern end has no architectural purpose other than to link the building more effectively with the town upriver; it works. The building also interacts fluidly with the river itself; the pool at the museum’s feet almost seems part of the Nervión, and Fuyiko Nakaya’s mist sculpture, when turned on, further blurs things. It’s entitled FOG, which also happen to be the architect’s initials… A couple of creatures have escaped the confines of the gallery and live in the open air. Jeff Koons’s giant floral sculpture, Puppy, sits eagerly greeting visitors. Formerly a touring attraction visiting the city for the opening of the museum in 1997, he couldn’t escape the clutches of the kitsch-hungry Bilbaínos, who demanded that he stayed put. On the other side of the building, a sinister spider- like creature guards the waterside approach. Entitled Maman, we can only be thankful that sculptor Louise Bourgeois’ mother had long since passed away when it was created. It’s a striking piece of work, and a bizarre sight when shrouded in mist. What about the inside? It is, after all, an art museum. Gehry’s idea was that there would be two types of gallery: ‘’galleries for dead artists, which have classical [square or rectangular] shapes, and galleries for living artists, which have funny shapes, because they can fight back”. The embodiment of the latter is Gallery 104, built with the realisation that many modern artworks were too big for traditional museums. Central to this space is Richard Serra’s Snake, whose curved iron sheets will carry whispers from one end to the other. A hundred feet long, weighing 180 tons, it’s interactive – walk through it, talk through it, touch it. This, however, is one of only a few pieces that live in the museum; the rest are temporary visitors, some taken from the Permanent Collection of the Guggenheim Foundation, others appearing in a range of exhibitions; relecting the variation in quality. Architecturally, the interior is a very soothing space with natural light flooding into the atrium. Jenny Holzer’s accurately titled Installation for Bilbao is an arresting nine-column LED display, uniting the different levels of the building, and creating a torrent of primal human sentiment expressed simply in three languages. There are three floors of galleries radiating off the central space, and a spot reserved for Picasso’s Guernica, which the Basque government persistently tries to prise away from Madrid’s Reina Sofia gallery. For a look at smaller-scale Gehry work, drop into the reading room on the ground floor, furnished with his unique cardboard chairs and tables. The cafés also feature chairs designed by him. The museum has an excellent modern art bookshop and a souvenir shop. Palacio EuskaldunaC Abandoibarra 4, T 944-310310. Metro: San Mamés. Opened in 1998 on the site of the last Bilbao shipyard, this bizarre building echoes both that industry and Vizcaya’s iron trade. Awkwardly situated, hemmed in by a busy bypass, the structure leaves many people cold, although it is impressive in a clumsy kind of way. Particularly interesting are the coathanger-’trees’ out the front. It’s now a major venue for conferences and concerts, particularly classical. More simpático is the covered Euskalduna bridge nearby, which sweeps into Deusto in a confident curve.
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Bilbao - £7.99
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