Guggenheim Museums by Frank Lloyd Wright and Frank Gehry
A taste of paradigm shift through digital visual culture is experienced in the architectural designs of two notable artists Frank Lloyd Wright and Frank Gehry. They may seem parallel but with some differences in terms of theme digital visual culture to display modernism. This observation reveals a paradigm shift from the structure of ancient Greek architecture which highlights space and time to the structures of the Hebraic roots of Western culture that modified the old and emerges with a taste of advanced technology. Guggenheim Museum New York by Frank Lloyd Wright
Art historian Norris Kelly Smith in his book Frank Lloyd Wright: A Study in Architectural Content laud Wright’s original designs compared to Greek and Hebrew art patterns. Wright’s deep familiarity with the verses in the Bible as credited to his father who happened to be a minister, reflects his internalization of the biblical messages in his architectural designs where his concept of freedom from enslavement manifest in closed spaces. According to Smith, Wright emphasized Hebrew through in the field of architecture through his design.
The neo-classical rhetoric influenced by American architects was critical in Wright’s design. He was successful to introduce a new theme in architecture to carry the importance of biblical thoughts like for instance the one inscribed on Philadelphia’s Liberty Bell bearing Leviticus 25:10. By this process, Wright aimed to instill in the American architecture its cultural independence founded in Europe. This spirit founded in “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” became the core of the paradigm shift in worldview in the arts, from the Hellenistic to the Hebraic.
The birth of dynamic forms of art and architecture giving importance to life and liberty bloomed on American soil which Frank Lloyd Wright exemplified, and his designs especially displayed in his museums invites a living response to this theme. Visitors enjoy the lively space and the exhibitions that best captures the audience in its display of movement. Wright gives importance to spiral forms as they symbolize one of the major life forms in nature – the DNA. This also symbolizes the major shapes in Hebraic mind. In Hebrew, form gives shape to content an essential part of their message.
When joined together, form and content symbolize the essence of Jewish values. The shaping of the Guggenheim Museum’s cavity in New York by Wright’s is helicoidal, which represents the triumph of time over space or the incarnation of Hebrew thought in architecture. This is even more significant as it is recognized even by non-Jews. Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao by Frank Gehry A higher modification of Wright’s design is the creation of Bilbao Guggenhiem by Frank Gehry. This architectural masterpiece is a more powerful realization of the Hebraic view. It is best describe by its dynamism and passion, even explosive in kind.
Gehry’s theme is derived from the scene of preparing a Sabbath meal, with the observation of swimming fish in a vigorous motion which flourished Gehry’s vocabulary for the dynamic shape of his architecture. The theme exemplifies fish’ characteristic of being one with their environment wherein they stay in constant motion to stay alive and have oxygen, unless it stop then the fish die. Using digital imaging, Gehry emphasized creative play in his method of work starting with spontaneous scribble sketches developed in forms move and reshape in a dynamic interplay through 3-D CAD and physical models.
Eventually, Gehry transcended Cartesian notions which defied verbal definition with the idea of moving bodies in water. Also, the elements of time, volume and formative dimensions evolve as a choreographed dance. Time and motion highlights Gehry’s architecture. Swift motion creates balance and this same concept of stability in motion is reflected in the “fish-scale” titanium skin on the Bilbao museum which makes it looks like a technologically advance airplane.
In order to fly, airplanes must move through their air medium and without it by stopping motion leads to death and crash. His practice displays a performance rehearsal carrying his knowledge of performance art. Summary: Gehry vs. Wright Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Museoa Bilbao is acclaimed as one of the Twentieth Century’s most innovative buildings and considered a representation of an unresolved conflict of dichotomies. His project can also be analyzed as a response to the paradox of opposition which is one of the recognized problems in the field of architecture.
Floyd Wright, on the other hand, used reinforced concrete as he brought the abstract form and modern technology to their contemporary limits, to create a spiral design that soars and swells as it rose. Thus, a masterpiece that is much of a sculpture rather than an architecture. References Alexenberg, Mel (2010) Inter/sections/Inter/actions: Art Education in a Digital Visual Culture, Robert Sweeny (ed. ), Reston, VA: National Art Education Association, retrieved July 18, 2010 from http://www. melalexenberg. com/paper. php? id=3
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