Different architects have different styles because they are trying to get at different things. Architecture is not just about making something beautiful anymore, it is about trying to get across a set of ideas about how we inhabit space. Two of the most famous architects of the twentieth century, one from each side, the early part and the later part up until today each designed a museum with money donated by the Guggenheim foundation. One of these is in New York City, it was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. The other is in bilbao, Spain, and it was designed by Frank Geary. My purpose of this paper is to interrogate each of these buildings, glorious for different reasons, to show how each architect was expressing their own style.
The Guggenheim Museum in NewYork City directly across from the famous Central Park. This is important because Frank Llyod Wright is known for his organic architecture, where he tries to make the building fit in with the landscape. This is not the case with the Guggenheim, which I have seen and I can tell you it looks nothing like nature. It is a big white, almost circular building and many critics at the time said that it looked like a 'gigantic toilet.' The important thing about Wright's Guggenheim, however, is not what it looks like from the outside, but what does the purpose of the building. As a museum, the building would have to house a lot of many various art works. The Guggenheim in New York specifically holds Modern Art. My guess is that Wright wanted to do something modern, but he also wanted it to be functional.
In museums, you usually have to follow a map and go into different rooms to see the art works. The Guggenheim's inside is one gigantic spiral so that people can walk ...
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...e did a thing more like Wright. He made the building fit in with its surroundings.
As stated, nothing about Wright's Guggenheim looks like nature, or even like its surroundings. Across from Central Park, but on a side of the street that has tall old buildings. In the middle of these skyscrapers facing the park squats Frank's short fat little toilet looking museum. Like a sore thumb. If anything, this seems to me to be much more like Geary's Santa Monica house. Not just because it has a high level of "ugliness" but mainly because it has to be emphasizing its own fact of having been built by human hands because it is such a distraction. Not only is it an eyesore (at least from the outside), I think that a statement about how a building is something constructed (like Geary's Santa Monica house does) is really the kind of thing that only needs to be said once.
Many of Frank Gehry’s early works reflect a refined manipulation of shapes and structures, whereby many of his buildings present distorted shapes or apparent structures. From the Guggenheim museum to the Walt Disney concert hall, Frank Gehry’s architecture is close to none. He cleverly plays with shapes and geometries. In this essay, I shall start with a brief analysis of Gehry’s house and the influences in the design of the house. I shall then analyze the extent to which Frank Lloyd Wright has inspired and influenced Gehry in the design of his house through a comparison with Frank Lloyd Wright’s Jacob’s house.
All throughout his 70 year career, Wright designed over 1100 designs which barely half were realized. He created what he called an “architecture for democracy,” which redefined our concept of space that offered everyone the opportunity to live and grow in healthful environments that connected physically and spiritually to the natural world. The American Institute of Architects named Wright the greatest American architect of all time in 1991, and Architectural Record circulated a list of the one hundred most important buildings of the previous century. Twelve of Wrights buildings appeared on this list. Frank Lloyd Wright left a great legacy and very large shoes to fill.
Guggenheim Museum. in New York. “Its circular form and concrete construction reaffirm Wright’s interest, late in his life, in continuous shapes and plastic forms” (Eisenman). The Guggenheim Museum is thought by many to be Wright’s capstone, yet it caused controversy and epic resistance from traditionalists. Wright wanted to push museum design to a new level and push museum administrators out of their comfort zones. He aggressively fired back at critics who claimed that the Guggenheim plan was a monument to himself. “On the contrary, ” he said, “it was to make the building and the painting an uninterrupted, beautiful symphony such as never existed in the World of Art before” (Wilkinson,
As soon as you walk into the Metropolitan Museum of Art, there is an overpowering sense of culture and aesthetics. One work you’ll notice as soon as you enter the museum is the Great Hall, which is both grand and visually attractive. It contains intricate moldings on the surface of the walls, with a ceiling height comparable to an ancient Catholic church. The Great Hall isn’t the only visually appealing work; the Moroccan Courtyard is as well. The courtyard leaves you mesmerized by sheer beauty and openness of the courtyard. The hand-crafted patterns and shapes crafted on the wall are similar to those visible on linen clothing. Both the Great Hall and Moroccan Courtyard are architectural examples that not are only works of art but in fact differentiate in their composition as well as serve varying structural purposes, for the museum.
Beauty – it’s all around us. Some people may not realize it, but the beauty of this city is in the history of the buildings and its houses. Any native or visitor can see the charm of the Queen City, but how many people have ever stopped to wonder where the original designs came from? Who built the house of Buffalo? Without a great architect who was ahead of his time, Buffalo would just not be as charming as a city. Frank Lloyd Wright made great contributions to places all over the United States and even overseas. Buffalo is lucky enough to be home to several of Wright’s many designs and creations. Not only did Frank Lloyd Wright design houses, he was the architect of the Larkin Administration Building, which was his first major commercial commission ever to be built (Frank Lloyd Wright’s Martin House Complex). The Darwin Martin House complex, the Graycliff Estate, a boathouse mausoleum on the Erie Basin Marina, and several private homes for Larkin Soap Company executives, were all built in Buffalo. These constructions were all of Wright’s designs that have contributed to the Buffalo landscape. While Wright has made an impact on Buffalo’s history and beautiful architecture, he has also made an impact all over the globe. From California to Tokyo, Frank Lloyd Wright and his designs are world renown. With several awards and different recognitions, he is arguably the greatest American architect of his time.
I believe that my favorite part of the museum would have had to have been the room that Anderson kept locked. When his wife, Agnes, broke into the room after Anderson’s death, she found that this little room was covered with murals. According to Anderson’s journal, the room was inspired by Psalm 104. Psalm 104 reads, “Praise the Lord, my soul; Lord my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty.” As I was standing in this room, I found myself speechless; there were no words for Anderson’s talent. It was simply amazing to me that someone could be this talented and not care about the world seeing his
Frank Lloyd Wright and Walter Gropius are widely regarded as the prionneering masters of modern architecture.The Johnson Wax Building and Bauhaus as their symbolic and critical masterpieces shared similar style of form but different idea of interpreting design. Wright’s simplicity approach and Gropius ‘less is more’ idea are seemingly related, but varied by their self preference in most aspects.
My first experience at the museum was a good one. I had so much fun even after we were done with the Norton-Simon. Being a business major, I did not know that art could speak to me as it did. It has not influenced me so much as to change my major, but it did open my eyes to a whole new world. Now when I look at art, I do not just see a pretty picture, but what the artist is actually trying to say.
I first visited the Guggenheim Museum two weeks ago with Claus, my friend from Germany. We had the MOMA in mind but I guess talking, talking we must have passed it by. Half an hour from the MOMA we found ourselves in front of the Guggenheim, the astonishing white building that was Frank Lloyd Wright's last project. Why not? We said to ourselves. And so we walked right in.
One pleasant afternoon, my classmates and I decided to visit the Houston Museum of Fine Arts to begin on our museum assignment in world literature class. According to Houston Museum of Fine Art’s staff, MFAH considers as one of the largest museums in the nation and it contains many variety forms of art with more than several thousand years of unique history. Also, I have never been in a museum in a very long time especially as big as MFAH, and my experience about the museum was unique and pleasant. Although I have observed many great types and forms of art in the museum, there were few that interested me the most.
From the early Greek temples of yesteryear, to the high-tech autonomous buildings of tomorrow, the question of whether the function of a building or its aesthetics qualities are more important has plagued the minds of architects around the world. Webster's II New College Dictionary (Please do not use the encyclopedia or the dictionary to open your essay--way too high school.) defines aesthetics as "The branch of philosophy that provides a theory of the beautiful and of the fine arts" (18). The definition of Functionalism is defined by Webster's as "The doctrine that the function of an object should determine its design and materials" (453). Now, if the function of an object decides the type of design and materials used how does one integrate aesthetics into design, and moreover, how important are aesthetics to an architect? Frank Lloyd Wright was one of the greatest and most renowned architects of the 19th and 20th centuries, and while his buildings where lauded for displaying great artistic design, the issue of function was compromised by the blatant fact that his roofs leaked. This is because he let the aesthetics of his buildings become the focus of the structure, and neglected to adequately address the function of the building allowing for this problem to take root in his designs (Palermo, 4 Mar. 1999). As is apparent from Frank Lloyd Wright, there is a certain balance that has to be attained between aesthetics and functionalism in order for a structure to be appreciated as a successful building.
What has surprised me the most, was just how influential Frank Lloyd Wright’s designs were and that some of the buildings that I adored were actually designed Wright himself. During my research, I found out that not only did Wright design stateside, but had just as many international projects as well. Out of all the international projects I looked up, my personal favorite has to be the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. I never would have imagined someone coming up with a design to give a modern look to fit in with an ancient Asian architecture but Wright has once again blown my mind with this stunning and majestic design. It may just be a hotel but it looks like it is capable of becoming the Emperor’s own personal palace. The way how Frank Lloyd Wright is able to come up with these architectural designs just amazes me.
nature. He called this Organic Architecture. Wright felt the relationship between the site and the building, and the needs of the client where very important. In contrast to Wright, Le Corbusier displayed industrialization rather than nature. ...
The Louvre in Paris: Museums, especially art museums, don’t need to limit artworks in their exhibition space. Art museums, like other industries, can find creative ways to reach their audience. For example, the Louvre displays some of its arts at a subway station in order to attract visitors (Blattberg, 1991). This strategy also is a way to announce new and exciting exhibits at the Louvre.
A museum is “a building in which objects of historical, scientific, artistic, or cultural interest are stored and exhibited.” (dictionary.com). This is the literal definition of a museum as well as my view of them coming into my first semester of college. I believed they were boring, outdated places where historical items were displayed. As I moved through the semester, my professor helped me gain a new perspective of these remarkable museums; one of respect and astonishment. Museums are meant to aid in learning and safeguarding of things that should never be forgotten. Of the many great places I visited this semester that adjusted my feelings towards museums, the ones that had the greatest impact were The National Museum of Natural History, The Newseum, The National Gallery of Art, and The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. These places are there to remind the general public about things that should never be forgotten; they preserve the history and beauty of the world.