The Architecture of the Guggenheim
Wednesday, December 12th, 2007When I visited the Guggenheim Museum this past weekend, I was astounded by the architecture of the building. I have never seen the Guggenheim Museum before, so I have expected it to look like any ordinary classical museum. I expected it to have columns and a grand staircase in front like the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Contrary to my expectations, the Guggenheim Museum is a circular building with a modernistic appearance. The building looks like it has circular bands projecting out from a central, vertical base. I learned that this is a style called cantilevering. The inside of the museum has ramps that circle from the top to the bottom. I learned that the museum’s architect meant for visitors to start at the top of the museum and walk down while looking at the artworks hung along the ramps. I found the architecture of the Guggenheim Museum to be more beautiful than the artworks inside the museum.