The ‘Bilbao effect’ for urban revival

KIM BONG-RYOL
The author is an architect and a professor emeritus at Korea National University of Arts.

A structure with wavy metal plates stands on the riverside of Bilbao, a central city of Basque. Designed by American architect Frank Gehry, the Deconstructivism masterpiece opened in 1997.

Deconstructivism is a literary and philosophical movement from the late 20th century criticizing and deconstructing the rationalism firmly established since the Renaissance and calling for a fresh start.

Deconstructivism architecture deviates from the orthogonal coordinates and creates irregular space, breaking away from fixed ideas and norms.

Made by connecting 33,000 shiny titanium plates together like scales, this museum looks like a sailboat, or flowers in full bloom. There are 19 exhibition halls inside the flashy exterior, 10 of which are rectangular spaces while 9 are irregular shapes, offering varied and dynamic interior space. The arbitrary and complex building was designed and constructed using CATIA V3, the latest software at the time.

Bilbao, formerly a center of shipbuilding and steel industries, chose a bold adventure to revive the rapidly declining city. The city of Bilbao was exclusively responsible for infrastructure and construction cost, and New York’s Guggenheim Foundation in New York provided its brand name and collections to create the Bilbao Guggenheim Museum.

The attempt to attract tourists with a unique structure not found elsewhere in the world was a great success. In the first three years of opening, 4 million international tourists visited, creating an economy of 500 million euros ($544 million) and increasing tax revenue of 100 million euros.

The so-called “Bilbao effect” or “Guggenheim effect” has become an example of success for urban revival to the cities around the world. Others have competed to build landmarks and attract cultural brands, hoping for another Bilbao effect. A new cultural imperialism started, as seen in Centre Pompidou-Metz, V&A Dundee and Louvre Abu Dhabi. However, Valencia, which had an ambition to become a city of arts and science, suffered from 700 million euros in debt, and another Guggenheim, which opened in Berlin, closed. Flowers that bloom long are rare, but flowers that wither without blooming are common.