Architecture: Art and Modern Buildings - Research Paper Example

Architecture: Art and Modern Buildings Referring to John Ruskin, Alain De Botton notes that, “We want them [buildings] to shelter us. And we want them to speak to us – to speak to us of whatever we find important and need to be reminded of.” In the context of galleries and museums this can be paraphrased slightly, we want galleries and museums to shelter their art and artifacts and to speak to us. The following discussion will briefly survey five galleries and museums that were built (or underwent revolutionary renovations) in the past fifty years to determine how modern galleries and museums use art and architecture to 'speak to us'. The discussion will begin by noting the continuities between the artistic architecture of modern galleries and museums and their predecessors. Then it will note the new ways that these galleries and museums combine art and architecture to speak to us. Recently, the term 'starchitecture' has entered the lexicon. 'Starchitecture' refers to the celebrity status and overwhelming pop culture influence of some contemporary architects. Arguably, Frank Lloyd Wright the designer of the oldest new building under consideration, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York (1959) was the first 'starchitect'. He inspired the Ayn Rand novel The Fountainhead and the movie of the same name. He personal life was widely followed in the media and he attracted 'disciples' to his various studios. More recently, I.M. Pei, Daniel Liebskind and Frank Gehry have generated similar attention. The Guggenheim Bilbao website claims it was, “instantly hailed as the most important structure of its time...” (Guggenheim Bilbao) The notion of giving celebrity status to architects is nothing new, but is contained within the general tendency, since the Renaissance onwards, of granting increasing influence to artists. Today 'starchitects' are only as well known as musicians, actors and other media personalities. However, many of the original designers of the buildings under consideration were 'starchitects'. The career and knighthood of Sir Giles Gilbert Scott (the architect of the Blackmore Power Station, now the Tate Modern) is evidence of this. (“Sir Giles Gilbert Scott”) Also falling within the historical traditions is the design of galleries and museums to make statements about art and society. The Louvre was entirely redesigned for the 1867 Word Exposition in Paris to demonstrate France's modernity, industrial strength and aesthetics. Similarly, the Noe-Romanesque facade of the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) was designed to demonstrate the intellectual authority of the adjacent and fore-running University of Toronto and Ontario Parliament. Architecture has always been an art form and always intended to put forward a facade that links to artistic and architectural traditions. However, while some of the roles of art and architecture in the modern world can be linked to historical traditions there have also been revolutionary changes. Modern architecture takes the art outside the building. It does not merely present a facade, it actually makes the approach to the building an aesthetic experience. Furthermore, to an unprecedented degree the additions of curves and irregular angles and surfaces makes stronger statements both outside and inside galleries and museums than ever before in history. Simply put, the visitor is artistically and experientially challenged before they have even entered the building. Table 1: Building Data, below, identifies the buildings under consideration and provides pertinent details relating to their history and design. For purposes of this discussion older buildings (such as the Tate Modern) will be dated to their modern renovation rather than their original dates of construction. Table 1; Building Data Structure Location Date Style Use Architect Modern Renovation Date Style Use Architect Guggenheim Bilbao Bilbao, Spain 1997 Expressionist Modern Gallery Frank Gehry Not applicable Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum New York City, USA 1959 Organic Modern Gallery Frank Lloyd Wright Not applicable The Louvre Paris, France 12th century – 1684/ 1867 French Renaissance/Second Empire Palace (converted to gallery 1793) Louis Visconci (1867) 1993 Deconstruc- tivist Gallery I. M. Pei Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) Toronto, Canada 1878/ 1933 Neo-Romanesque Museum Frank Darling and John A. Pearson (1878) Alfred H. Chapman and James Oxley (1933) 2004 Deconstruc- tivist Museum Daniel Liebskind Tate Modern London, England 1947/1963 Industrial/ Utilitarian Power Station (converted to gallery 2006) Sir Giles Gilbert Scott Pending (2012) Deconstruc- tivist Gallery Herzog & de Meuron The oldest building in this survey is the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City. It is an organic modernist building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, completed in 1959. It's exterior artistic features immediately challenge anyone approaching. It is a three-dimensional curve that lies on a cone, designed so that its angle to a plane perpendicular to the axis is constant. It contains almost no right angles, no straight lines and curves abound. It was revolutionary compared to steel, class and symmetry of modernism and compared to historical museums such as the original Louvre. It challenges the visitor the same way the non-representative art in the collection inside challenges the viewer. The art and the architecture are symbiotic. Illustration 1: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City Source: http://theboweryboys.blogspot.com/2008/10/podcast-guggenheim-museum.html. The Guggenheim Bilbao designed by Frank Gehry almost forty years later extends this theme even further. It invokes the designs of Spanish architect Antonio Guadi and does not even possess the mathematical organizing principle of a helix. It is a collection of seemingly random curves that, again, defy traditional architecture and are sheathed in titanium, a new building material. It challenges the visitor before they have even entered the building. The architecture clearly states that this is an art museum, and compliments the collection: “Assembled over the past decade, the Guggenheim Bilbao’s collection of art spans from the mid-twentieth century to the present day. Concentrated on post-war painting and sculpture in America and Europe.” (Guggenheim Bilbao) Illustration 2: Guggenheim Bilbao Source: http://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/Contexts/Just-Elemental/Sci-Media/Images/Guggenheim-Museum-Bilbao-in-Spain While not curvilinear the modern renovations of the older museums under consideration in this survey also take the art outside. In all three structures they stand in stark contrast to the traditional elements of the buildings. The Louvre, although not designed as a gallery, has been one for over 200-hundred years. The Royal Ontario Museum is approximately a century old and has been a museum for its entire history. However, both structures have had radical additions made by leading contemporary architects, I.M. Pei. And Frank Gehry respectively. Moreover, the two designs share certain common characteristics. They both make extensive use of glass and triangular forms (as opposed to the traditional right angles of architecture). Both additions were met with public outrage that has since faded. Currently, the Louvre website proudly notes that attendance has doubled since Pei's pyramid was added to its courtyard terrace, the (Cour Napoléon), where it now serves as the gallery's main entrance. (The Louvre) The contradictory styles are imposed on visitors and a tunnel that connects the pyramid to the historic buildings of the museum. (Rostow, 1990) Illustration 3: The Pyramid at the Louvre Source: http://spencerwarden.com/paris.html#nogo. Illustration 4: The 'Crystal' at the Royal Ontario Museum Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Royal_Ontario_Museum.jpg In Canada, Gehry's 'Crystal' is located on the north side of the museum and also now serves as its main entrance. Again, imposing the revolutionary addition on the visitor before they have even entered the galleries. The Tate Modern is located on the south bank of the river Thames in a former industrial area. It's reuse of a former power plant is a radical new use of a institutional structure with imposing but uninteresting facades. The new addition appears to take its cues from the pyramid at the Louvre and the 'Crystal' addition to the ROM. It uses irregular triangular shapes to take the art outside the building, engaging the viewer before they actually enter the gallery space through the glass and steel addition (as is the case at the Louvre and the ROM). Illustration 5: Artist's Rendition of the 2012 Addition to the Tate Modern Source: http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/transformingtm/ All of the buildings surveyed highlight the links between art and architecture in modern building design. They demonstrate also a rebellion against the imposing rectilinear features of classicism and corporate modernism by incorporating curves and eccentric angles. They challenge the visitor before they enter the building and in the case of the newest designs the visitor actually enters the gallery spaces through these revolutionary new features. References The Buildings Guggenheim Bilbao. Retrieved from http://www.guggenheim.org/bilbao. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Retrieved from http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york. The Louvre. Retrieved from http://www.louvre.fr/llv/commun/home.jsp?bmLocale=en. Royal Ontario Museum (ROM). Retrieved from http://www.rom.on.ca/. Tate Modern. Retrieved from http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/. Secondary Sources De Botton, Alain. (March 26, 2007). “Architecture and Modernism”. California Literary Review. 48. Retrieved from http://calitreview.com/48. “Sir Giles Gilbert Scott”. Design Museum. Retrieved from http://designmuseum.org/design/giles-gilbert-scott. Rustow, Stephen L. (1990) “Transparent Contradictions: Pei's Pyramide at the Louvre”. Paper given at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Architectural Historians Boston, 29 March, 1990. Retrieved from http://www.museoplan.com/doc/pei.pdf. Read More