O Guggenheim de Frank Lloyd Wright e a adição de Gwathmey Siegel: moderno com moderno

This article explores, considering the urban context, the aesthetic and functional relationships between two modern buildings, namely, the Guggenheim Museum in New York by Frank Lloyd Wright and the addition to it made by Gwathmey Siegel. Specifically, it is examined the addition impact on the museum image and its role as an urban landmark. Moreover, it is examined the relationship between the internal spatial attributes of the museum and the functionalities of exposing works of art. The conflicting views regarding some of theses aspects are discussed. The design by Frank Lloyd Wright for the Guggenheim Museum in New York constitutes a troublesome process that involved divergences with the clients, the City Council, the world of arts and the public opinion. The design approval was time-consuming due to its inconformity with the urban legislation. Either Solomon Guggenheim as Wright died before the completion of the museum in 1959. Nevertheless, for many people the Solomon Guggenheim Museum in Nova York characterizes not only the audacious spirit of its founders but the architectural genius of Wright, becoming one of the most important otherwise the most important of his buildings and one the icons of modern movement. The curved shapes in concrete refer to nature, to sculptural organic forms, and contrast with the more rigid geometry normally adopted by modern architecture. The traditional approach adopted for the design of museum interiors, characterized by the circulation from one room to another, is altered by Wright through the continuous spiral ramp that connect the exposition spaces coiling the great atrium, naturally lighted by the glass vault, that allows distinct views from the interior and that, as emphasized by some people make possible the experience of the art of architecture besides the exposed works of art. Nevertheless, apart from the critics received for ignoring the its urban context, the Guggenheim Museum was criticized by some people, mainly artists, by the fact that the proposed internal spatial arrangement had a greater visual impact than the works of art exposed and by the difficulty generated by the ramp concerning the observation of paints, what was rejected by Wright who defended the adequacy of the circulation and continuous views from the galleries. Following what happened with the majority of American art museums, where a more recently building was added to the original one, normally in classic style, in 1992 was built the addition by Gwathmey Siegel to the Guggenheim by Wright, in the form of a discrete ten storey high rectangular prism behind the original museum, that includes four exhibition spaces, offices, a theater, restaurant and deposits, and completes Wright’s concept for the museum that originally foresaw the building of a tower to lodge studios and artists’ flats. Besides functional improvements, the addition provides new views to the original museum that starts to fully function as exposition space. Although the adopted solution for the architectural design by Gwathmey Siegel was praised, it was also criticized. The investigation based on the pertinent literature and in observations locally made, reveal, for example, that the aesthetic relationship between the Guggenheim Museum by Frank Lloyd Wright and the addition made by Gwathmey Siegel is characterized by an harmonious coexistence, the modern addition with a simple geometry acting as a background for the original modern museum with curved shapes and reinforcing the aesthetic qualities of the later.