Team Blog Series: The Guggenheim Museum, NY - by Elene Edisherashvili
Team Blog Series - Here you will explore blogs prepared by our team members about the topics, news, and stories that moved and influenced them.
Today our blog was prepared by Elene Edisherashvili, Architect at MUA Architecture & Placemaking.
Today our blog was prepared by Elene Edisherashvili, Architect at MUA Architecture & Placemaking.
"One great space on a continuous floor"
If we have to name one American architect that comes to mind first, it will most likely be Frank Lloyd Wright, a notorious man whose very specific vision and philosophy on architecture shaped America’s cities and countryside during the 20th century.
He is an example of an architect who created and designed every detail of his creations by himself, from the inside to the outside of a building.
Although he’s not my favorite, I want to share an evolution and development of one of his iconic and truly magnificent buildings, The Guggenheim Museum in New York. Without going into the details of the planning and conceptual parts of it, I want to emphasize his contribution not just to people in all fields of art but also the importance of this building as a landmark of New York, which, in my opinion, is the greatest metropolis in the world.
"One great space on a continuous floor" - this simple sentence was the concept behind the Guggenheim museum.
Before reaching his desired idea, he experimented with small scale commercial and residential architecture of the same concept.
First and my favorite was V. C. Morris Gift Shop in San Francisco built in 1948. This was literally the prototype for the Guggenheim, as buyers were able to look at goods displayed in the walls of the spiral ramp while the ramp was leading to the second floor of the shop.
He is an example of an architect who created and designed every detail of his creations by himself, from the inside to the outside of a building.
Although he’s not my favorite, I want to share an evolution and development of one of his iconic and truly magnificent buildings, The Guggenheim Museum in New York. Without going into the details of the planning and conceptual parts of it, I want to emphasize his contribution not just to people in all fields of art but also the importance of this building as a landmark of New York, which, in my opinion, is the greatest metropolis in the world.
"One great space on a continuous floor" - this simple sentence was the concept behind the Guggenheim museum.
Before reaching his desired idea, he experimented with small scale commercial and residential architecture of the same concept.
First and my favorite was V. C. Morris Gift Shop in San Francisco built in 1948. This was literally the prototype for the Guggenheim, as buyers were able to look at goods displayed in the walls of the spiral ramp while the ramp was leading to the second floor of the shop.
The second building was built in 1952, a private open plan house for his son in Arizona that was accessible primarily through the ramp.
When the museum was opened to the public in October of 1959, six months after Frank’s death, the building was criticized for its concave walls, which prevented the paintings from being displayed properly. The unusual experience of climbing a 400-meter-long spiral ramp was perhaps another reason for criticism.
Regardless, the building’s monumental white rotunda became an experimental field for some of the world’s greatest artists and architects, which draws the attention of more than a million visitors each year.
The following Guggenheim exhibitions that I am about to share with you, were special because they took place within the Guggenheim rotunda and without which they might not have been that spectacular.
The following Guggenheim exhibitions that I am about to share with you, were special because they took place within the Guggenheim rotunda and without which they might not have been that spectacular.
Daniel Buren: First. 1971
Jenny Holzer, 1990
Dan Flavin, 1992
Zaha Hadid: Great Utopia: Russian and Soviet Avant-Garde, 1915-32. 1992
The Art of the Motorcycle, 1998
Brazil: Body & Soul. 2002
Daniel Buren: The Rose Window. 2005
Tino Sehgal, 2010
Maurizio Cattelan: All. 2011
James Turrell, 2013
Gutai: Splendid Playground. 2013
OMA/AMO: Countryside, The Future. 2020
Author: Elene Edisherashvili
Photo sources:
Photo sources:
- https://www.floornature.com/frank-lloyd-wrightas-guggenheim-museum-turns-60-14338/
- https://franklloydwright.org/frank-lloyd-wrights-san-francisco-gift-shop-meets-iconic-italian-design/
- https://franklloydwright.org/frank-lloyd-wrights-san-francisco-gift-shop-meets-iconic-italian-design/
- https://kjzz.org/content/695041/david-and-gladys-wright-house-phoenixs-arcadia-neighborhood-back-market#expanded
- http://www.steinerag.com/flw/Artifact%20Pages/PhWrightDavid2.htm
- https://www.galeriebuchholz.de/exhibitions/douglas-crimp/
- https://danielburen.com/images/exhibit/75?&ref=group&year=1971
- https://kjzz.org/content/695041/david-and-gladys-wright-house-phoenixs-arcadia-neighborhood-back-market#expanded
- https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/22064
- https://www.facebook.com/guggenheimmuseum/posts/in-1992-to-inaugurate-the-guggenheims-recent-renovation-dan-flavin-devised-a-spe/10157114844853501/
- https://www.facebook.com/guggenheimmuseum/posts/in-1992-to-inaugurate-the-guggenheims-recent-renovation-dan-flavin-devised-a-spe/10157114844853501/
- https://www.guggenheim.org/blogs/checklist/painting-for-the-guggenheim-zaha-hadids-exhibition-design-process
- https://www.guggenheim.org/blogs/checklist/painting-for-the-guggenheim-zaha-hadids-exhibition-design-process
- https://www.guggenheim.org/blogs/checklist/painting-for-the-guggenheim-zaha-hadids-exhibition-design-process
- https://www.guggenheim.org/blogs/checklist/painting-for-the-guggenheim-zaha-hadids-exhibition-design-process
- https://eatsleepride.com/c/192909/the_art_of_the_motorcycle_-_free_download
- https://www.guggenheim.org/exhibition/the-art-of-the-motorcycle
- https://www.guggenheim.org/blogs/checklist/nine-guggenheim-exhibitions-designed-by-architects
- https://bortolamigallery.com/exhibitions/the-eye-of-the-storm/238/
- https://bortolamigallery.com/exhibitions/the-eye-of-the-storm/238/
- https://gallerycrawl.typepad.com/gallery_crawl/2010/02/tino-sehgal-at-the-solomon-r-guggenheim-museum.html
- https://kateoplis.tumblr.com/post/51051137255/the-kiss-tino-sehgals-living-sculpture-at-the
- https://www.designboom.com/art/maurizio-cattelan-all-retrospective-at-guggenheim-new-york/
- https://www.designboom.com/art/maurizio-cattelan-all-retrospective-at-guggenheim-new-york/
- https://www.archdaily.com/377267/frank-lloyd-wright-s-guggenheim-rotunda-to-be-temporarily-transformed-into-a-turrell-skyspace
- https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/21/arts/design/james-turrell-plays-with-color-at-the-guggenheim.html
- https://www.alexandramunroe.com/exhibitions/gutai-splendid-playground
- https://twitter.com/Guggenheim/status/1204517162058211328/photo/1
- https://www.guggenheim.org/news/countryside-the-future-an-exhibition-at-the-guggenheim-museum-grows-and-donates-fresh-produce-to-food-pantries-in-new-york
- https://www.dezeen.com/2020/02/21/countryside-the-future-exhibit-rem-koolhaas-guggenheim-new-york/