It was architect, Frank Gehry’s eccentric vision that gave rise to the magnificent Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. A vision that interconnected a series of curved and swirling metal structures that give the appearance of a futuristic spacecraft on the banks of the Nervion river. But all visions have their challenges, the structure that was meant to be clad in stainless-steel but looked dull and lifeless. A desperate search ensued to find the correct material and eureka titanium seemed to do the opposite, not only was it stronger but it came alive as it weathered giving the building a silvery golden colour…..and so the impressive 24000 square metre structure was then clad in 33000 titanium sheet tiles, giving it’s gorgeous sheen.
Two years after the inauguration in 1997, they added “the Maman” a sculpture of a giant spider by Louise Bourgeois almost completing the buildings alien appearance.
