Frank Lloyd Wright and the Guggenheim

Guggenheim.
Model of the Guggenheim as done by Wright.
Inside the Guggenheim. NY Times photo.

We were in NYC when the 50th anniversary celebration opened for the Guggenheim. The Guggenheim facility itself was the post-modern brainchild of Frank Lloyd Wright in his last years. He died six months before it opened. In recognition of its anniversary, the facility is staging a huge display of the architectural works of Wright. Wright's work carries the weight of a great deal of irony. He was an architect known for not listening to the needs or desires of his clients who were paying for his work. Though this allowed for some of the great innovations that Wright is known for, it also resulted in buildings with many impracticalities. We had the opportunity a couple of years ago to visit a home Wright designed in Buffalo. The ceilings were low and the rooms claustrophobic and it appeared that the restoration work was a challenge. The Guggenheim meanwhile is not truly suited to most shows of art. It is a work of art itself. The exterior demands attention in a neighborhood of old mansions and upper east side high rises. The interior, consisting of a seemingly endless ramp to the ceiling, is magnificent but creates impracticalities for the display of art. Wright's works as displayed in the Guggenheim are interesting and certainly laid the foundation for some later more practical manifestations that are primarily seen in take offs of the craftsman design which was somewhat associated with Wright. However, Wright's body of work must also be critically challenged for its lack of staying power from a practical case by case standpoint. For example, one of his most famous works is Fallingwater in Pennsylvania. That house has faced huge challenges due to the lack of functionality of its foundation and roof, basic components of a house. Ultimately, the trip to the Guggenheim was made most rewarding by an impressive room full of impressionistic and post-impressionistic works by the likes of Gauguin, Van Gogh, Manet, Monet, Picasso and Matisse. For more information and views of the Guggenheim, check these links at the New York Times: http://video.nytimes.com/video/2009/05/14/arts/1194840215901/guggenheim-museum-turns-50.html?ref=design and http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/15/arts/design/15wrig.html?ref=design.