travelswithalice

May 16, 2014

The Guggenheim Museum

I wish I could say "El Goog" was at least as interesting as the market.

This building failed to communicate to me any of the vibrancy, the flavor of the region it was meant to celebrate. When it spoke, all I heard was "Look at me, I'm Frank Gehry!"

The narrative of the design is all about the backstory of how Gehry had allowed his pen to freely create it, allowing the uninterrupted line to find its own way. Like automatic writing.

A building should be designed with people in mind. Those who would build it and those who would use it.

This building was excruciatingly difficult to build and it doesn't work. It doesn't flow naturally, moving around in it is not particularly intuitive.

It seems to be coming apart at the seams. It doesn't drain properly; the floors have unexpected pools of water inside and outside. Even the Ladies' Room is awkward and difficult.

As to the already much maligned contents, the very art works the building was designed to house, I find them to be not terribly fascinating. They are mostly just big. As in oversized, not spectacular, not engaging.

Surprisingly, (as I am not a fan), Yoko Ono may have provided the only humanizing experience for me in the entire meretricious extravaganza that is "El Goog".

The Wish Tree.