oe sn THE MCHTECURE OF prreRMiT Llnong Me I-08 The Bilbao Affect: Culture as Industry ‘Tre Museum Boom Len the precincts of contemporary culrre-—especally in strikingly designed, archieer-branded museums of art—promise is everywhere implied: uphiting ‘perience for visitors, economic beneits for he site and its surounds, piles of ‘aural eapital forall concerned, and thelatest, most exciting design and cating fdge technology. At the end ofthe swenteth century, religious shrines, busines entersand public memorials took the bck seat inthe achiteeture of atractions Clears was the business 0 be in. The multibillion dolar museum building ‘boom was a worldwide phenomenon. ities everywhere, expecially hose backwa- zation, made big bets on"cultuteLed recovery” The economic sue cos stary ofthe Guggenheim Bilbao was ced again and again, We ill explore it in-a moment. Museums became te lates oc ofthe general spectacu= vation of culture, ofthe necesito turn everthing (history, governments ities, new movies, heritage sites, natural phenomena, high public and private fice, even media itself inte an “traction,” hat san event i “Avworidwide survey of art museum building conducted during 200 although fac from complet, listed eighty-four active projects. Thirty were either extensions cx substanive renovations, while ffy-four were entirely pew museums oF new” buildings near existing ones. Mos were sated o emphasize contemporary an ght cates, the cost was not povided or was et tobe ini For the rest oer 4704 bilion bad been commited, at an average of 362 milion per projet Trosty a estimares tha everyone involved knew would be exceeded. In ney all cases, nds were being raised from private sources, then marched or supple mented by public subvention—2 reversal (sypical of the “privatize everything” {g8or) ofthe centr-long pattern of sch cultural enterprises being regarded a primarily an obligation of governments. Projets range frm che 3.5 milion Palas Ue Tolyo-—a renovation of pat ofthe Museum of Modern Ar of the City of Pais by architects Anne Lacaon and Jean-Philippe Vessal that tuned che space nfo nix ofa ave venue and contemporary art center (its opening show was a mini- Biennale about biensial)—to the top ofthe range, the #650 milion expansion of the Museum of Modern Ar New Yor, by Yoshio Taniguchi Associates che otal ‘cost of which blew out to 4858 million) Nothing, however came close ro march- ing the su.2 billion spent onthe Getty Center, completed in 1992 tn the mide ofall his champagne popping and ribbon custng, MoMA director Glenn D. Lowry issued a warning: “I chink museums have emerged asthe primary«ivi buildings of our time, and create the b thas ed o competition among institutions buildings imaginable, The assumption ist ling will gavantze @communiry and ig the kind offinncil supp ‘would led oa beter collection a bigger endowment. But thas a tenuous propo. n-In many cass, che buildings have far ouesripped the importance ofthe collections Some arg tht the boom time of museum building and refi bishment will soon come to an end, thatthe focus of attaction will shift e where. Despite the runaway success of recycling the ruins of the In Revolution—most visibly, Herzog and de Mueton’s transformation of the Bankside Power House into the terms, “ed-nk businesses” tha require constant subsidy through grants or other contributed income to survive. Their current role 2g sturactrsis accounted for by setting their costs of ga ‘hem bue around them in local rel estate and bu inst name exned not by growin increased tax sn accelerated rourist volume.) One yer afer opening, the Tacha co go backtothe cy more funding o appoint safcen sal a cope th the unanticipated crowds (5.25 milion). But the doubs of double-eney bookkeepers were swept aside. During the 29905 it seemed tht anew muscu {pened somewhere inthe wor each month, while more and more were com imssioned The real excitement was curtency isl: centemporay a, aichitecrre, design and fashion. The mos spectacular buildings atthe entry'send-—like the ‘most successful ar-—were those in which these various visual are wotked hand in glove, mixed promiscuousy, merged seamlessly or fought ras finely calibrated standof Each became the content, then the container, ofthe other Only to reap> ear, transformed, asthe content ofa transformed container Isitany wonder thet rillions were drawn tothe outrageous forms and the secret interiors of conten porary architecture's magic boxes? bao Enters the Ionamy ‘Whats the significance ofthe fa chat, a the urn of che wenn frst cenary the ‘conic bullng was « museum of contemporary art, and not en exposition Shyscaperofces, spor terminal, or opera house, sil lesa pivate building, shopping mall or factory? That it was 2 museum is no surprise the destructive, ness hatwas the underside of the construction booms ofthe eenttheentry— ‘the “collateral damage” of wars, neglect, and environmental degadation-leht vst rats ofthe earths surface, from centeal cities to national parks, vulnerable. Reconceiving them as museums or heritage sites became in many situations the best option forthe maintenance, Nor should ic bea sutprse thatthe ionic i leonialstucture isa museum of contemporary art. Afer al, he cultural and enter. fsinment industries were, along with those of service, coutiim, and new technology, the growth sectors in most economies cert ‘ones-in the later decades ofthe century. Through blockbuster exi aly the visual ae drew in of any at fom anywhere but also through incessant retailing of reso to Picasso and Matisse, as wave oh rom te pesos ee ae ee podingutnow gue plennotion Tilo sh othe neighborhood of everyone with a cat. Taking acu from \doutimage eaure “shoe, very jazzy to look at. Thus Gehry’ preference for caving ot , offaxis ground plans-—al fast-slow motvaors ly and around symbols, and brads that ings to become logos. One of ints ofaeractor architecture sro artve a unique Yet tandout shape for she building as @ whole (in Gehry Ine entance lobby of Sankiag Calaravas Museums of Artin ose diving by, walking past. and, ings not by choosing stunning: ur by generating all of these elements a it were fom ze inside our. Tt is pressly a Gehrpype imagery of superhip,ecenticferkiness achieved accidental disorder hat hough te highest tech, a mechano-organiclock of qu recognizable sign fr “Here Is « Concentration of High iene Concert Hill, Los Angeles conceived ints na Cultural Value” The scent frmjust before the Bilbao commission mein, isa consummate, if thisconjuncton In the case ofthe Guggenheim Museums around the wo nits wecen phase of energetic global fancisng, Gggenbei = Gehry = Great ‘at « Gold Architecture andicnomy ae mos perfect met. InTime, Out of Time What of the Guggenheim Biba’ continuing contemporanety in ‘sympathetic interpreter of Gey’ work overdone, and overvheliin these erm: “Iti an immovable ple wen is fist century? For characterization of Bilbao as “overwel ify his astonishment lies, went onto inthe city anda sinuous creature draping its body along a narrow ledge above the ror local but glob Ofcourse, Gehry’ building h ilding has quali lation into the relentless commodification: days. One such might be his achievement ofa buil farm that looks asi ono he es The housing ofthe above this gallery suggests a snake curled in on it : ike budding ove pe open out a hau oot Ye hte above ther of these is intrusive ro the degree that chey become a fixed association. The bp peed tebe lm he hin of meupon xe From inside the atrium, one has ( Sven seul fees The muon nsec ag eee mately a passive one. Mobile yes. Engaged, that 0. B yes. Engaged, that too. Bur not brought toa state of knowledge. This happens when you step sideways, and work agai sments—the pak ayia he eno prods of hho edge of el mitted ro an unending series of specular projects, to be alwayswho is only lathes? Already the lis See ‘streaks of black. ces aed aoe and ree re ang pc Td nan has eed one plant. I acess “Jere hs su ok eho Bar the moses goals this expectation. It aspires to be Contemporary Art of ble contemporary art can march it aly present, 25 the ulkimace ity thar no conceval ‘i steomeperni Ba ane mpl ping mn ee en ofa br een ening pores nos Fon ete np anon shoo Dap e t totaennte the Cope may coe he erie De ey eginofthe uys tok is kd fa nest Tec pre net kh bd of on the buzzword of ap sm in the early pwenty-frst ee Fe Tenge ater cold ie Now po mhing des ogame Sale symbol of the lst wake anxiey. Flashback: Uluru and the Sydney Opera House 30 may have been the ewentieth century’ most instanceof architecture as icon, but it was not the fst: Many early became pilgrimage points for architects, anda number became iconic of modern achitecure fr people in cheit region, while afew care osymbolize le socal tendencies and historical forces, Among buildings thathave served allof these purposes, the Sydney Opera House is of oustanding interestand remains so today Iris no accident that Guggenheim diretot Thomas Kren bent on sling his concept for Bilbao, reached instinctively forthe great ‘of Europe and the Sydney Opera House to serve as compelling peece- Theo in the entry of architecture into the rowing global iconomy: Even before completion, it symbolized Sydney, then ‘Ausraliato the wold. Bui didnot do so alone it was shadowed inthe iconomy gery of 2 natural formation ‘people concerned out of the Central in desert-The Sydney Opera Houses located on Bennelong Point, one of ‘hetwo ams of Circular Quay, the most imporant porin Sydney Harbour (ils 8). Ura bega ent shape over 330 milion years ago, while the opera house was opened on October 20,1973, seventen years after 2 woddwide com- ‘etn forts design was announced. fe lok at both of them together see something ofthe prehistory of structures such a che Guggenhei 2d, mote important we might grasp someting of how arcicecure re both recent and ancient duration, Sydney Opera House is ubiquitous in the achieved take in the buge value investment both Ulam and the opera house represent? How might they face each other inthe ferwe? Indeed, how do the cultural orders chat they represent stand ta each otherAnthony Vide "Redefining the nd hard queso about Framing ge cm he viewer’ perepconn se hangng i museum opened, howe ctor 17 Thephrnsing in Osama bin Laden, sed in desing he 2008 during an serve 430. Gugerhci Bilbo Caer og ping 20030 957-59 35: David van Zante, pve communication, use igh ser reverse 4G: hops centre that ns nl ors. 3003 From tis perspective, the insoles ope fom ee ninNores 70 rages 30-34 26, Schl. "Bervoen the Net snd she Detp Ble Se ‘The Magi Sound of nh in Maca fra Now Miles, Dennen The Deition of rio Fil Ceny Beek omnia Pes, 199), and eared by Jonathin Cray in Metin h Niet ony (Cade MIT ess 1990) veahing Ai buildings. an ought he High Gothic phase hens: river (Landon Sag. 193). ores to PAGES 35-38 Aboriginal Cone the Word Here Lt roe al eo be designe for yphony Concens cluding oman see thefllowing he Dennis Wel