The Guggenheim museum on 5th Avenue is a very unusual building, with a stranger history. It is Frank Lloyd Wright's only public work in New York City, and was finished after his death. It was concieved to show a permanent collection of abstract art, the direct descendant of the 1939 Museum of Non-Objective Painting. It was designed with the aim of eliminating rectilinear references, a space full of sensuous curves. It was conceived with lots of natural light, and directly complementary to the works of the collection which it was designed for.

Unfortunately, the building was never used as conceived, modified (elimination of clerestory windows at the outside edge of the spiral, painted white instead of cream), and in 1992 given an addition directly at odds with what Wright was trying to achieve. It is still an interesting building, but only from the standpoint of what it could have been. The changing exhibitions are variable in sucess, and much of this has to do with the distinctive gallery shape.

That said, I still like the place. Such lightness of form, such grand public space. Attending makes you feel like a participant in an event instead of a spectator. The best shows are a dizzying spiral of imagination.

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
5th Ave. and E 86th St. New York, New York.
Frank Lloyd Wright 1959.
Ugly Addition. Gwathmey Siegel & Associates 1992.

Some information comes from:
Newhouse, Victoria. "Towards a New Museum." The Monacelli Press, New York, 1998. ISBN 1-885254-60-1.