The Guggenheim Museum, in Bilbao, Spain, is one of the most admired works of contemporary architecture. Here Frank O. Gehry created fluid-form architectural technologies for both the design and construction phases and we mastered advanced computer technologies to tailor the 3D, free-form building envelope and achieve the architect’s goal: building curves that look truly random. The skin is made of titanium, chosen for its great strength and elasticity, features that enable it to achieve the desired aesthetics: a dynamic wrinkling of the envelope so the building looks like it is buckling under the wind. We designed the titanium sheets using the 3D computer modelling program Catia created for the aerospace industry. Without this sophisticated software, it would have been impossible to define the high number of different panels, control the horizontal panel alignment in response to the constantly changing wall curvature and control the erection procedures.
36,000 sqm (387,500 sq ft) of pure titanium cladding.
ARCHITECTS: Gehry Partners, LLP; César Caicoya Gómez-Morán; José Antonio Amann Murga; Aitor Azcárate Gómez
CONTRACTOR: Balzola
Get in contact with us to know more about the project