Bilbao Effect and Starchitects

Courtesy - Wikipedia

Have you read the Fountainhead? This book by Ayn Rand became our holy book as students of architecture. Individualism over collectivism and 'prime-movers' over 'second-minders' as Ayn described became our mantra in years to come. This was the time when modern architecture had strengthen its roots by breaking shackles of classical architecture. We hoped to be as idealistic and convinced as Howard Roark.

We would have endless discussions on why Roark was the architect to emulate. He had an aura as he stood tall with his work amongst mediocre architects. Rand chose architecture as a perfect analogy to show that to create outstanding work of art one must be true to oneself and not give in to popular demands.

But isn't architecture for people? How can one be true to oneself yet create popular architecture? In today's times when architecture can actually change financial geography of a place, there's lot of burden on architects to balance aestheticism and economics. Real estate business has escalated to enormous proportions. Developers are demanding a complete package to maximize their profits. They want a 'star' architect whose mere association with the project will bring in lot of publicity, one, who will design a building of epic value to multifold their profits.

The last two decades have seen many architects balance popular architecture and their own design sensibilities. They chose to follow their heart and have created magnificent structures. The buildings they built have become iconic in their own right so much so that they have affected the financial demographics of an area by turning them into major tourist attractions. They are popular, unique and make financial sense.

Guggenheim Museum at Bilbao, Spain

The Guggenheim Museum at Bilbao with it's titanium plating and unique shapes opened new doors for Spain's tourism industry. People wanted to go and see this building more than the art inside. It changed the obscure town of Bilbao into much visited town of this decade making it the travel destination of the 21st century. Now, this led to some kind of frenzy among real estate developers around the world who wanted to replicate this phenomena called the 'Bilbao effect'.

The Bilbao phenomena gave the world a new breed of architects called the 'starchitects.' Frank Gehry, though he himself hates to be called starchitect, made people believe in the star value of architects. Just by having a star architect on their panel increased the value of the project. Architects, willing to talk about their passion, design philosophies, willing to experiment with new materials and willing to push boundaries of technology.

The Bilbao effect and 'starchitects' go hand-in-hand. For a building to have that impact on people, the design has to be unique and for that to happen you need an architect with a vision and conviction in his own work. Frank Gehry faced lot of opposition in Bilbao when the construction of Guggenheim museum started and there were threats in the newspaper to 'kill that American architect' (read http://www.archdaily.com/97117/frank-gehry-interview-on-playboy). To go ahead against public opinion and make it a success requires one to be a 'prime-mover' as Ayn Rand described in her book, Fountainhead.

Did it work anywhere else in the world? Well, the debate continues but the city of Bilbao comes out a winner here because they carried forward the momentum that Guggenheim created. They proactively built many iconic structures around the city that added to the wish list of architectural traveller's itinerary. There are newer reasons to visit the city.

Here are some masterpieces that dot the Bilbao landscape, designed by visionary architects (since Frank Gehry does not like the term 'starchitect').
Enjoy!!

Basque Health Department Headquarters in Bilbao - Coll-Barreu Arquitectos

Bilbao Arena - ACXT / Javier Perez Uribarri y Nicolas Espinosa Barrientos

Calatrava bridge at Zubizuri - Santiago Calatrava

City Hall - IMB Arquitectos

Bibliography

http://www.archdaily.com/97117/frank-gehry-interview-on-playboy/https://hub.aa.com/en/aw/bilbao-frank-gehry-guggenheim-travel-destination
http://panethos.wordpress.com/2013/02/14/why-the-bilbao-effect-works-in-bilbao/
http://www.e-architect.co.uk/bilbao/bilbao-arena-sports-centre
http://www.cnu.org/cnu-salons/2013/06/starchitects-and-bilbao-effect-new-urbanisms-role
http://www.archdaily.com/7093/basque-health-department-headquarters-in-bilbao-coll-barreu-arquitectos/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zubizuri
http://www.archdaily.com/183721/bilbao-arena-acxt/