American architect Frank Gehry is responsible for this architectural masterpiece: this fantastic chrome and metal creation houses a large collection of modern and contemporary art, a continuation of the Guggenheim legacy.
Set on the edge of the Nervión River in Bilbao , Spain, the Guggenheim Museum is a fusion of complex , swirling forms and captivating materiality that responds to an intricate program and an industrial urban context . With over a hundred exhibitions and more than ten million visitors to its recognition , Frank GehryЪ’ s Guggenheim Museum Bilbao not only changed the way that architects and people think about museums, but also boosted Bilbao's economy with its astounding success . In fact , the phenomenon of a cityЪ’ s transformation following the construction of a significant piece of architecture is now referred to as the Ъ“ Bilbao Effect . Ъ” Twenty years on, the Museum continues to challenge assumptions about the connections between art and architecture today.
n 1991 , the Basque government proposed to the Solomon R . Guggenheim Foundation that it fund a Guggenheim museum to be built in BilbaoЪ’ s dilapidated port area , once the cityЪ’ s main source of income . Appropriately , the museum became part of a larger redevelopment plan that was meant to renew and modernize the industrial town .