Contemporary Design Icons: journalistic essay: Guggenheim NYC

Bethany Giblin

ICONS

Journalistic essay

4.6.15

The Guggenheim in New York City is an icon of icons. This museum pops out of it’s surroundings defining itself within a city bursting with landmarks, history, culture, and icons of all types. It is an icon of Frank Lloyd Wright, an icon of New York, an icon of the Guggenheim Foundation, an icon of museum design, and an icon of arts culture globally. It is an iconic trifecta- Iconic of designer, discipline, and destination. What is most intriguing about this particular structure is that the interior is equally as iconic as it’s exterior.

As a work of Frank Lloyd Wright, the Guggenheim is an icon of his body of work. Maybe because it was one of his last works, and it naturally takes on the identity of capstone to his portfolio of work, but the Guggenheim also seems to encompass Wright’s spirit and philosophy as well. Wright lived a live of many loves, and often strayed from a traditional trajectory in his personal life and opted for the more interesting, more romantic pursuits, even if that were more difficult, or less widely accepted. Such sentiments are reflected in his departure from the standard “white box” design of fine arts museums.

As a form, the Guggenheim is a museum before it’s time. Its contemporary architecture is unmistakable. While it’s curves differentiate it from the square, organized rectangles of city blocks, the curves also seem to echo the organic forms found across the street in Central Park. Although the Guggenheim exterior is undeniably impressive and iconic in it’s own right, Wright’s design was more focused on the experience of the interior of the museum. The interior concept was “one great space on a continuous floor”. The design was based upon a ziggurat, a tapered building where the space narrows as it rises. Conversely though, Wright wanted the space to widen as it rises to reflect an eternal optimism.

But, it is interesting to note that although this sentiment is very poetic, there were also functional reasons why Wright wanted the space to widen as it ascends. In his original concepts, Wright designed the building to be experienced from the top down. Visitors would go up, enjoy a rooftop garden, and stroll their way down through the museum. Due to budget and code restrictions, the garden was nixed, but the intended experience of the museum still remains top to bottom. In order to accommodate a descent within the museum, Wright did design for a small elevator, but time has proven the elevator an inefficient mechanism due to the great volume of visitors.

In addition to the shape of the building, the continuous spiraling walkway was also instrumental in the museum design. As the atrium rises to ninety-two feet to a glass dome ceiling, the walkway swirls around the space to create a continuous, uninterrupted viewing experience for the art creating a sort of timeline of experience. A visitor is more aware of their surroundings, what they have already seen, and what they will see, thus creating a sense of passing of time. The integrity of the time continuum is also enhanced by the lack of distractions. Wright was purposeful to minimize the applications of finishes to simplify the space, and presumably allow for more attention to be put on the art being housed. While this concept was definitely different and new for it’s time, which inevitably comes with a level a criticism purely for being different, this was not the architect’s biggest criticism.

The curved walls of the interior meant artist’s works, mostly paintings, needed to be hung at an angle. While many were outraged by this at the time of design, including many artists, Wright stood by his design explaining the angle was much like that of an artist’s easel. To this day, not many museums implement this kind of curating, presumably because it is a lighting and perspective nightmare, but again, Wright never promised every choice he made would be correct or perfectly successful. He only set out to be a revolutionary in design, whether that meant success, failure, or somewhere in between.

As a museum, The Guggenheim is an icon among icons. Museums are notoriously built to be iconic forms and iconic landmarks of cities. The Guggenheim is both, and then some. The Guggenheim represents the early beginnings of “blob” architecture. It’s form equaled and possibly even superseded it’s function, although Wright would not attest to that. The “blob” architecture known for its juxtaposition to its surroundings, contemporary aesthetic, and organic forms, would not become popular for many years, but Wright’s design absolutely foreshadowed a movement to come.

As a landmark, the museum is an undeniable moment on the streets of New York. Today, many travel websites and reviewers note the building as the attraction rather than the exhibits inside of it. Although Wright’s intention was to provide a new kind of backdrop for the art, it seems as if his design itself is the impetus for the majority of visitors these days. The twenty nine million dollar restoration of the Guggenheim exterior is another telling sign that this building is still considered today an integral part of New York.

The Guggenheim lives on as an iconic form of an iconic architect, each title feeding off of and raising up the other. Although not the flashiest of the Guggenheims, New York’s has history and antiquity, which set it apart from the other Guggenheim museums. Considering architect, time, location, and design, it is fair to say the Guggenheim in New York is truly a one of a kind.