Front view of the Guggenheim in Bilbao


The hotel museum in Las Vegas (which is rumoured to be considering a
reproduction of the Sistine chapel on the roof) is only one of a series of joint
ventures that Krens is pursuing in an alliance with the Hermitage that is aimed
at forging a whole new paradigm, what Krens calls an "international museum".

In return for the Guggenheim helping the Hermitage renovate the General
Staff building in St Petersburg adjacent to its present state appartments in the
Winter Palace, for instance, the Hermitage will make its unique collection of
old masters and French impressionists available to the new Guggenheims in Las
Vegas and New York, and vice versa. This treasure-sharing arrangement will also
encompass Bilbao, the Deutsche Guggenheim Berlin and a second Venice Guggenheim.
The tie-up with the Kunsthistorisches museum in Vienna - renowned for its
collection of Brueghels and other European masters - converts this "marriage of
opposites" into into a menage a trois.

Article by Mark Honigsbaum for The Guardian.


To be honest the negative association of the Guggenheim museums with the supposed McDonaldization of architecture needed some convincing for it to be estalished in my head, simply because I have fallen just a little in love with each of the five--Frank Lloyd Wright's geometric Guggenheim in New York, Frank Gehry's titanium-clad Guggenheim Bilbao, the waterside Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, the romantic sandstone building of Deutsche Guggenheim in Berlin, the Guggenheim Hermitage gallery space in Las Vegas--all at the same time.

Created and run in various countries worldwide by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, they are every bit as aesthetically appealing and thought-provoking as the art they house. The buildings themselves are bold statements of architectural triumph; some of them can even claim more recognition than the art itself. And, if it is possible to bring these triumphs to places around the world, packaged in illuminiscent, alluring, curvaeous titanium beauties, I say why not?

Yet, the critical response to the management-trained director of the New York Guggenheim Thomas Krens' franchise and commercial approach to art is understandable if not justifiable. Never mind that most of his detractors are of rival museums or that their concerns are centred around the apparent 'for-profit mentality' they claim Krens suscribes to. Their argument--'McGuggenheim!'--appears to coincide with the latent and increasing distrust of globalization's impact on architecture.

It is a war of words. Newsweek conceeds that his 'aggressive, global approach may be what high culture needs to survive in our world'. The author of the article takes a harmless dig at Krens' being unavailable for comment due to his 'scouring the globe in search of new 'alliances' and 'migratable cultural resources''. Whichever way one puts it, however, the world has become increasingly conscious of the impact of global architecture in the local city scene and skyline, accounting for the onslaught of simplistic, standardized and repetitive boxes in all reverrence of modernist, brutalist architecture.

An unideniable truth

Art and architecture are direct assertions and manifestations of culture. Architecture mirrors society's aspirations and beliefs and represents its attempts to master the land--to tame the elements and mold geography to suit itself. It is an instinctive curiosity about other, different places that compels us to travel; to discover the personality and character of a certain place. It is this reason we fly over half the world to foreign lands--Rome, Greece, Tunisia, Panama, Mexico, Bangkok, Venice--to experience the locally distinct culture through its the lifeblood of its society: not just its people, religious beliefs, but also the architecture, sometimes especially the architecture. The same reason why the Guggenheim in Bilbao attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors from all over the world.

The most public of all art forms, buildings, were once shaped by site, climate, history, native culture and locally available materials and construction technology. Globalization has rendered such stylistic limitations and concerns almost unecessary and obsolete. It is no longer unusual for a building in London or Shanghai to be constructed with a sophisticated glass and metal curtain wall made in China or Germany and granite and marble imported from Spain or Zimbawe. Once this would have been considered prohibitively expensive, but today shipping materials globally has become routine. Glass, aluminum, stainless steel, copper, titanium and natural stone are readily available. If they cannot be acquired locally, they can be imported.
With the increasing sharing of materials all over the world, there is the imminient risk of architecture becoming increasingly standardized and globalized. The central business district of Singapore could be anywhere. This, as it appears, is the inevitable consequence of the rise of so-called 'global cities'.









Panoramic view of Shanghai
















Skyline of Seattle, Washington



There is a general acknowledgement (although not explicitly stated) of the importance of safeguarding and promulgating established indigenous architectural traditions, forms, decorative motifs and technologies to preserve historical continuity, cultural diversity and preservation of geographic identity.

The interconnected world, however, calls for the quick and efficient dissemination of new forms using new technologies and materials in response to changing functional needs and sensibilities. Commerce, transportation, communication and information become priorities; something that translates into a need for internationalized, innovative architecture transcending local conventions and constraints. In fact, architecture today can also be used to symbolize a state, with governments and companies employing architecture for corporate and state identification. The Esplanade was a step in the Singapore government's proceedure to propel the island into the regional cultural and entertainment scene. The next benchmark to look out for would be the Integrated Casinos. Frank Gehry's design propelled the city if Bilbao into international forums and global notice. Such is the power of architecture in a time where the global stage means more than ever before.

A watershed architectural trend which began in the 1920s would later become a basis for modernist architecture. The International Style was based on systematization and standardization, mass production, economies of scale, functional logic and aesthetic composition devoid of both ornament and sentiment, a result of the attempts before that to integrate traditional precedents with new social demands and technological possibilities (International Style, Wikipedia). The quintessential function over form ideal.

The globalization of architecture is evident in most cities today. The infusion of several architectural styles represent the mosiac of culture that has resulted from world interconnectedness. Extensions made in recent years to the Supreme Courts of Singapore have resulted in a stark clash of architectural styles, both modern, classical and even futuristic, evidenced in the large dome-shaped structure (that I believe defies any kind of logic) behind the original Supreme Courts building.
















Swiss Re, London



Anti-globalization proponents argue that the influx of international ideas and goods displace or diffuse diverse native cultures. The people on the other end of the spectrum advocate systematixation, flexibility and interchangeability with the increased emphasis on speed and efficency. The tension resulting from this polarization of views has had the world split in half (nearly) about the all-encompassing force that overwhelms and underlies our way of life as we know it. But arguing about it does not stop it from occuring, nor does it mean that adherence of one policy should completely compromise the other. It is naive to put progress in chains in order to promote the preservation of cultures around the world, rather, they should co-exist simultaneously, and what should be done is to find a balance between the two. As the world moves towards sustainable architectural concepts and futuristic designs, we should not neglect the remnants of the past, and this is an undeniable truth regardless of whether architecture specifically is concerned.


Image Sources:
Guggenheim Bilbao
Shanghai panoramic view
Seattle skyline
Swiss Re tower in London

This writer assumes the role of a commentator on globalization and this phenomenon's resonating effect through the 21st century world with regards to culture.

Photographs duly credited.