I took a taxi from the station to my accommodations, and after 5 euros, we finally arrived. Of course the driver had to stop and pull out his map 4 or 5 times--the hotel is literally across the river from the station! I guess I don't blame him, he has to make a living, too.
In terms of accommodations for this leg of my trip, I decided to go the 'hostal' route as basic expenses here in Europe are much more expensive than in South America. I had assumed that 'hostal' and 'youth hostal' were basically interchangeable here in Spain...not the case. Apparently, my accommodations in BCN were under the category of 'youth hostal', which means shared baths, discarded hairs on the counters and floors, uncomfortable beds, noise, etc. However, I am pleasantly surprised that when I check into my room here in Bilbao, I am staying in a 'hostal', hence I have a nice, clean private bath (sans discarded hairs and such), a closet, a TV with four Spanish stations that I have not turned on since, and a comfortable bed. All in all, this is a very nice room, in a great building, and in a great location for the same price as my youth hostal experience...I can appreciate the difference between Barcelona and Bilbao, but in less you want to relive some college dorm experience, if you are budget traveling, put your money on the 'hostal' options...
After a walk along the river to as close as I can get to the Guggenheim without spoiling the surprise of seeing it firsthand in the light of day, I turn back, find a bar for a glass of sangria, and head off to sleep.
The Guggenheim:
It is a 20 minute walk from my room to the museum. Along the way, Santiago Calatrava's foot bridge crosses the Bilbao River. Like most of his work, it has thin, spindly structure for the tensile elements and thick concrete for the compressive structure--all painted white. Here, the bridge decking is glass--some transparent and some translucent with what I assume to be lighting integrated into the assembly.
Upon arriving to the museum from the old quarter of the city, you pass the stone clad tower and an elongated, titanium clad horizontal bar that snakes and weaves itself under an existing vehicular bridge to the main atrium of the museum. As you move towards this atrium, the path along the river lifts up gently to expose a new moat that laps up to the museum base on one side and the river on the other. At the atrium, the museum expresses this fact with multiple folds and billows surrounding a vertical wall of glass that offers views into the interior. Objects clad in stone, white draping walls, and ribbons of pedestrian circulation define this zone. Following the pedestrian path, you pass the entire length of the museum and return to the grade level began on the previous side; a stone stair perpendicular to the river leads you up along this side of the museum's block-like massing to an entry plaza. Here, Jeff Koons' "Puppy" greets guests before you descend another stone stair to the formal entry--this time, the stair takes you into the heart of the building--the atrium.
Although drastically different in materials, siting, and size, I would argue that the atrium space of Gehry's Guggenheim functions like and recalls attributes of FLW's NYC Guggenheim museum's atrium. In NYC, the atrium works as an organizational device: entry functions, vertical circulation, and gallery spaces all are located adjacent to the central void of the building. Instead of a continuous spiral that is both circulation and gallery, Gehry uses typical conveyance systems--stairs and glass enclosed elevators--to move people vertically through the building. However like FLW, every major gallery space opens onto the main atrium connected by a series of paths and at times bridges around and through the central void. In each project, people are always brought to a central zone before they move laterally to other galleries. Both, too, are top lit with skylights allowing natural daylight to filter into the building's void. Although I have never read nor heard that the references I mentioned were intentional on Gehry's part to establish a relationship with FLW, the similarities are a pleasant reference especially since both are part of the Guggenheim legacy.
The exterior cladding materials define programmatic uses: titanium clads galleries that are atypical in their layout--i.e. walls, ceilings, and floors do not always meet perpendicular to each other; stone clads 'traditional' uses such as restaurant, bookstore, typical galleries; and the blue defines the offices and support spaces for the museum. Hence, the titanium clad gallery that snakes underneath the vehicular bridge is an atypical gallery and actually houses the Richard Serra permanent collection exhibit:
Check out other photos here:
http://picasaweb.google.es/christopher.kitterman/BILBAO24Sept2008?authkey=nFn0Fur8T3A#
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