Gehry tries this time to localize his project with the old idea of wind circualtion...but Gehry is Gehry..he'd never give up his form. I guess he should get out of this mould he's in.
The good thing about Gehry is that his best projects- most certainly Gugg. Bilbao- are really fantastic places to inhabit. I have seen a lot of great buildings and been in many museums, Bilbao is in the top 3. The way light, material, and circulation are interwoven, is really unprecedented. Bilbau was a site specific building. And it is handsomely detailed and proportioned.
I will say that it will be very tough (and perhaps this Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is a case in point) for him to keep out doing himself. I would also say to his defense, that these model shots don't give you a sense of anything really. I await more images and the real thing. I hope one day to visit Dubai to see his work, along with ALL of the new architecture being built. The place is exploding.
In terms of site specific work. Gehry’s buildings I would say, in most cases, are site specific. He is the original ‘sculpto-tect’. His ideas are based on literally tons of site models. In fact Bilbao had over 600 site models. He works very hard on creating buildings that fit to a specific site. I would say not so much in terms of ‘contextual design, and matching local architecture, but more in terms of building scale and adjacent land / climate / city indexes.
I like it. It looks typically Gehry but not like a copy of anything else he's already done. When he tones down on the over-cliche big silver curved surfaces, which he did here, it's a pretty interesting collection of stuff.
I have to agree with the points made by shogo664. Gehry (and his legions of young modelmakers) work extremely hard to work through countless iterations of massing and programmatic strategies that carefully balance the important characteristics of the site with the design solutions that are necessary to push the envelope of museum design through the auspices of the Guggenheim Foundation.
Now one could argue that here in Abu Dhabi they are making the site up, so really Gehry is only responding to a really horrible master plan by SOM (when will these guys learn that no one hangs out on promenades and pergolas when it's 180 degrees outside). Certainly you could argue that the Guggenheim is the crown jewel of the project, being on the end of the man made peninsula and serving as the capstone to the biennele art pavilion promenade that has been mentioned in a few articles. So really he's left with two important site features to respond to. One the water, which from the model shots and the way he has personally spoken about the project, is being drawn right up and possible through portions of the building. And two the fact that it is hot as fuck in Abu Dhabi most times of the year, at least during the day. My immediate reaction was holy sh*t what do you think the MEP requirements on a Guggenheim would be. I mean to be honest how much sustainable architecture is going up in that part of the world. I think they figure well we've got oil, no reason to skimp! But to my surprise, Gehry is working quite hard with Transsolar out of Germany to use the cones as a way of circulating fresh air through the building. In fact most of the building isn't even climate controlled (more on that in a moment) - most of the work is being done by the strong forms Gehry has designed. So it is quite nice to see how his interpretation of Middle Eastern Architecture, which I'm not here to argue, is being deftly used to respond to the environment in which he wants to build. I cannot imagine that Zaha's bicycle helmet is going to do much on the sustainable front.
Lastly. I'm always interested in what the enigmatic Tom Krens is coming up with next. I'll give the guy credit, he is trying to push the envelope on how we experience museums in response to the fact that most art isn't painting anymore. Whereas MOMA went with what they know. Krens is at least trying to think outside the white box. So I'm quite curious about this cluster idea they've come up with - which coupled with the aforementioned cones is driving the massing of the project. In each cluster there's a tightly climate controlled portion of space that is close to the middle. As you work your way to the perimeter of the building, the climate is less controlled and finally becoming uncontrolled. So a curator can begin to put together shows from certain regions for example that include paintings (requiring strict temp and humidity values) with sculptures and larger installation pieces. It's interesting how it's basically the melding of two museum types - the white box and the warehouse (which has popped up frequently in the last decade).
So I myself try not to get hung up on the aesthetic. Which might change knowing that this is just initial concept design and that we're probably 5 years away from walking around the thing at best. But the fundamentals that underly the design decisions made by Frank are what has gotten me to take an interest in the project. And while I'm on the fence about the look, I do like the project, it does push his aesthetic in a different direction. I'm glad he's not just throwing titanium billows all over the place this time.
Well actually i disagree with punky_brewster !
whats the context in dubai ?? dunes and some new glass towers???
That said, the project looks like smthg that came out of a Model 1 course.. how to make models !!!!
then again , thank god we dont have any of those flying curlies in the wind !
im stumped...
i have no idea what those images are of...
thats a museum?
why?
i am understanding some of those post rationalized process descriptors in that article but as usual, am completely at a loss as to how or why ghery ends up where he does.
this isnt a shot as fog as a bad architect, or an architect at all, just an admition that i am at a loss to describe what that composition of masses is. And even if i can accept that its formal attirbutes serve some function (teepee's drawing away hot air?), im still at a loss to describe WHY that composition of masses is a building.
a history of gehry's buildings has shown that they are always extremely contextual (albiet in their own way) and usually accurately respond to their surroundings quite appropriately. The American Center in Paris, Weismann museum in MPLS, the bank / apt building in Berlin and Bilbao all have an elevation which faces the city, and an elevation that faces the park.
Sure we could speculate about the forms, for forms sake, but without truly knowing the program, the site context, etc... I'm not sure how any of us could make any sort of strong endorsement one way or the other for the building...
Feb 19, 07 4:37 pm ·
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Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Abu Dhabi
Guys give me ur opinions ... wat do u think of Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Abu Dhabi in The United Arab Emirates ? coz i dont like it at all.
u can find it here: http://www.europaconcorsi.com/db/pub/scheda.php?id=15152
i don't think gehry cares about the site much, and the result
is a very bland copy of other projects seen before....
...but Nouvel's project is going to be absolutely spectacular. his best work yet, hopefully.
Gehry tries this time to localize his project with the old idea of wind circualtion...but Gehry is Gehry..he'd never give up his form. I guess he should get out of this mould he's in.
The good thing about Gehry is that his best projects- most certainly Gugg. Bilbao- are really fantastic places to inhabit. I have seen a lot of great buildings and been in many museums, Bilbao is in the top 3. The way light, material, and circulation are interwoven, is really unprecedented. Bilbau was a site specific building. And it is handsomely detailed and proportioned.
I will say that it will be very tough (and perhaps this Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is a case in point) for him to keep out doing himself. I would also say to his defense, that these model shots don't give you a sense of anything really. I await more images and the real thing. I hope one day to visit Dubai to see his work, along with ALL of the new architecture being built. The place is exploding.
In terms of site specific work. Gehry’s buildings I would say, in most cases, are site specific. He is the original ‘sculpto-tect’. His ideas are based on literally tons of site models. In fact Bilbao had over 600 site models. He works very hard on creating buildings that fit to a specific site. I would say not so much in terms of ‘contextual design, and matching local architecture, but more in terms of building scale and adjacent land / climate / city indexes.
I like it. It looks typically Gehry but not like a copy of anything else he's already done. When he tones down on the over-cliche big silver curved surfaces, which he did here, it's a pretty interesting collection of stuff.
I have to agree with the points made by shogo664. Gehry (and his legions of young modelmakers) work extremely hard to work through countless iterations of massing and programmatic strategies that carefully balance the important characteristics of the site with the design solutions that are necessary to push the envelope of museum design through the auspices of the Guggenheim Foundation.
Now one could argue that here in Abu Dhabi they are making the site up, so really Gehry is only responding to a really horrible master plan by SOM (when will these guys learn that no one hangs out on promenades and pergolas when it's 180 degrees outside). Certainly you could argue that the Guggenheim is the crown jewel of the project, being on the end of the man made peninsula and serving as the capstone to the biennele art pavilion promenade that has been mentioned in a few articles. So really he's left with two important site features to respond to. One the water, which from the model shots and the way he has personally spoken about the project, is being drawn right up and possible through portions of the building. And two the fact that it is hot as fuck in Abu Dhabi most times of the year, at least during the day. My immediate reaction was holy sh*t what do you think the MEP requirements on a Guggenheim would be. I mean to be honest how much sustainable architecture is going up in that part of the world. I think they figure well we've got oil, no reason to skimp! But to my surprise, Gehry is working quite hard with Transsolar out of Germany to use the cones as a way of circulating fresh air through the building. In fact most of the building isn't even climate controlled (more on that in a moment) - most of the work is being done by the strong forms Gehry has designed. So it is quite nice to see how his interpretation of Middle Eastern Architecture, which I'm not here to argue, is being deftly used to respond to the environment in which he wants to build. I cannot imagine that Zaha's bicycle helmet is going to do much on the sustainable front.
Lastly. I'm always interested in what the enigmatic Tom Krens is coming up with next. I'll give the guy credit, he is trying to push the envelope on how we experience museums in response to the fact that most art isn't painting anymore. Whereas MOMA went with what they know. Krens is at least trying to think outside the white box. So I'm quite curious about this cluster idea they've come up with - which coupled with the aforementioned cones is driving the massing of the project. In each cluster there's a tightly climate controlled portion of space that is close to the middle. As you work your way to the perimeter of the building, the climate is less controlled and finally becoming uncontrolled. So a curator can begin to put together shows from certain regions for example that include paintings (requiring strict temp and humidity values) with sculptures and larger installation pieces. It's interesting how it's basically the melding of two museum types - the white box and the warehouse (which has popped up frequently in the last decade).
So I myself try not to get hung up on the aesthetic. Which might change knowing that this is just initial concept design and that we're probably 5 years away from walking around the thing at best. But the fundamentals that underly the design decisions made by Frank are what has gotten me to take an interest in the project. And while I'm on the fence about the look, I do like the project, it does push his aesthetic in a different direction. I'm glad he's not just throwing titanium billows all over the place this time.
Well actually i disagree with punky_brewster !
whats the context in dubai ?? dunes and some new glass towers???
That said, the project looks like smthg that came out of a Model 1 course.. how to make models !!!!
then again , thank god we dont have any of those flying curlies in the wind !
im stumped...
i have no idea what those images are of...
thats a museum?
why?
i am understanding some of those post rationalized process descriptors in that article but as usual, am completely at a loss as to how or why ghery ends up where he does.
this isnt a shot as fog as a bad architect, or an architect at all, just an admition that i am at a loss to describe what that composition of masses is. And even if i can accept that its formal attirbutes serve some function (teepee's drawing away hot air?), im still at a loss to describe WHY that composition of masses is a building.
Abu Dhabi is not Dubai. Even though they're both in the United Arab Emirates.
Also, for more discussion of the entire development, check here.
a history of gehry's buildings has shown that they are always extremely contextual (albiet in their own way) and usually accurately respond to their surroundings quite appropriately. The American Center in Paris, Weismann museum in MPLS, the bank / apt building in Berlin and Bilbao all have an elevation which faces the city, and an elevation that faces the park.
Sure we could speculate about the forms, for forms sake, but without truly knowing the program, the site context, etc... I'm not sure how any of us could make any sort of strong endorsement one way or the other for the building...
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