Guggenheim Museum Bilbao — Attraction in Bilbao

I am an architect, so visiting this museum has been a dream come true for me. There were so many stories and mysteries I wanted to discover about it. I was fascinated by what I saw and for some part of my visit, I felt that I was in tune with the whole experience. But soon, there was no connection anymore! I think the building itself is a museum of art, light, curves, history, technology, texture, etc. The building with all its underlying meanings could be the sole voice of a well-curated guided tour unfolding what it holds, how it connects to the past, present and future of Bilbao and its people. I believe it did not need to be filled with too many different unrelated voices. Sure, one enters a cubical building and expects to be entertained and amazed by temporary and permanent exhibitions but Guggenheim building is ENOUGH. Actually it is more than enough! Surely, all the giant sculptures and exhibitions inside and outside of the complex are so meaningful and worthy but they create too much noise, in a way that the voice and story of the building itself get lost. And to me it seemed that these voices were not even connected together. After spending 1.5 hours in the museum, I felt physically and mentally tired. There were too many disconnected stimuli. And this was shocking because I am a person who can spend 8 hours visiting museums nonstop without getting bored or tired! This is just my personal honest opinion, but I had this feeling that the accumulation of all these different voices was a sign that Bilbao thought the museum was not enough! I could feel a lack of confidence. The spaces of your museum are not empty, they are full of the story of your city portrayed by the building on its walls, ceilings, and its curves. Please do not oversaturate it with sculptures and exhibitions… I hope you consider making a better-curated guided tour on the building, connecting it to the story of Bilbao like a treasure map with different stages. Let people soak in the magic of space and Bilbao. Let them remember its strong magical voice♥️. Bring music and live performances into these giant entities that the building creates and let this marvelous wonder ship of Bilbao roar into...

My monday morning visit to the Guggenheim Museum left me with mixed feelings, leaning towards disappointment. Despite its fame and reputation, the experience was underwhelming for several reasons.

Firstly, the art itself didn’t resonate with me. Many of the pieces felt abstract to the point of detachment, leaving me questioning their significance rather than appreciating their depth. Perhaps I was expecting something more engaging, but much of the collection felt inaccessible or, frankly, forgettable.

As for the building, I found the architecture more distracting than inspiring. The structure seemed overly frantic, with twists and turns that didn’t enhance the viewing experience but rather detracted from it. While I understand that unconventional design may have been the intention, it felt more chaotic than cohesive. It almost seemed as though the building was trying too hard to be the centerpiece.

To make matters worse, I kept getting lost inside. The layout felt confusing and disorienting, with spaces blending into one another without a clear sense of direction. I spent more time trying to figure out how to navigate the building than actually enjoying the art.

That said, two things stood out. First, the installation with massive steel sculptures could have been even more engaging had it embraced a maze-like structure, using separate levels and connecting the parts into one or two larger pieces to create an intense, even more immersive experience. The vastness of the museum’s space could have been used more effectively, enhancing the feeling of disorientation and interaction. I would have preferred to experience a sense of tension within the art itself rather than feeling it in the building's layout design.

Secondly, the quirky exhibition by Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara was amusing and refreshing. His art is a compelling blend of humor and darkness, featuring playful characters that often carry an underlying sense...

The Guggenheim in Bilbao is a world-renowned piece of deconstructivist modern architecture designed by Frank Gehry. The museum was constructed between 1993 and 1997 and was originally proposed to combat economic decline in the post-industrial city of Bilbao. The museums bold design and never before seen architectural style was an instant success in rebranding the cities image and encouraging tourism in the city and area.

The Guggenheim was a lot of fun to visit and certainly a very interesting building in the city of Bilbao. Inside the museum there was a nice variety of artworks and sculptures on display in a wide range of creative mediums. I felt some of the gallery spaces lacked synergy with the exaggerated curved forms visible from the outside which meant some rooms for me felt like wasted opportunities/ some spaces felt under-utilised.

Despite this, I still thought there were some cool architectural moments inside too: One such highlight architecturally was the central atrium space which had a pretty great sense of space and had suspended pathways on all three main levels allowing a range different views and perspectives of the space itself. I also really loved exploring Gallery 104, which is the long gallery on the ground floor stretching to the side of the museum underneath the Puente de la Salve bridge. This space I felt had a purpose to his scale and it was super fun to explore the large geometric sculptures inside too.

Overall visiting the Guggenheim Bilbao was a lot of fun and a must for those visiting such an amazing city. There are a lot of different viewing angles of the museum from different point around the city so I would certainly recommend trying to get around the to different points of the river or even the surrounding city to...