The Bilbao effect: how Guggenheim museum put the Spanish port on the map 25 years ago, and why some copycat projects in other cities backfired
- The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao opened 25 years ago, and transformed a rough Spanish port into a tourism hub, in what has since become known as the ‘Bilbao effect’
- Similar projects in some other cities have failed. We look at why, and how the Guggenheim became more than an art museum
The sunlight dances off the titanium plate coverings, reflected in gold and silver. The contours of the unique structure fan out imaginatively towards the sky. “The metallic flower” is what some call it – or is it more reminiscent of a ship docked on the banks of the adjacent River Nervión?
The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao represents building design at its most adventurous. Star architect Frank Gehry dreamed up his avant-garde museum of modern and contemporary art for a competition, one that marked the start of an extensive redevelopment of the northern Spanish city of Bilbao.
After four years of construction, the museum celebrated its opening on October 18, 1997. On its 25th birthday, it remains the pride and joy of the industrial metropolis.
The building brought about Bilbao’s transformation into an international visitor destination – from a rough city beset by armed conflict between the Spanish government and Basque separatist groups that plagued northern Spain throughout the second half of the 20th century.
“The Bilbao effect” has become a term that refers to economic upturn for depressed cities as a result of cultural investment combined with spectacular architecture.