Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is one of the most important ingredients in the plan to redevelop the city of Bilbao. The plan, involving a number of major projects conceived by some of the world's most prestigious architects, includes the work now in progress to increase operational capacity at the city's port, the revamping of the city's airport, a new Conference and Performing Arts Center, the construction of a metropolitan railway and a new footbridge crossing the river at Uribitarte. The unique Museum is built on a 32,500 square meter site in the center of Bilbao. On one side it runs down to the waterside of the Nervión River, 16 meters below the level of the rest of the city of Bilbao. One end is pierced through by the huge Puente de La Salve, one of the main access routes into the city. The building itself is an extraordinary combination of interconnecting shapes. Orthogonal blocks in limestone contrast with curved and bent forms covered in titanium.