A great place to spend some time over the Memorial Day weekend is the Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum designed by Frank Gehry on the University of Minnesota campus.
It is one of the major landmarks on campus, situated on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River at the east end of the Washington Avenue Bridge. The building presents two faces, depending on which side it is viewed from. From the campus side, it presents a brick facade that blends with the existing brick and sandstone buildings. On the opposite side, the museum is a playground of curving and angular brushed steel sheets.
Architectural Style
Much of Gehry's work falls within the style of Deconstructivism, which is often referred to as post-structuralist in nature for its ability to go beyond current modalities of structural definition. In architecture, its application tends to depart from modernism in its inherent criticism of culturally inherited givens such as societal goals and functional necessity. Because of this, unlike early modernist structures, Deconstructivist structures are not required to reflect specific social or universal ideas, such as speed or universality of form, and they do not reflect a belief that form follows function.
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One of my favorite places, Kate! I love how the colors change, depending on the day.
ReplyDeleteLooks like a tin can's bad dream. hahaha
ReplyDeleteGehry is one of my favorite architects. I would love to visit this place. :)
ReplyDeleteThis does have the characteristic Gehry form and materials. An architect has to think out of the box to be so distinctive that one's buildings are instantly recognizable.
ReplyDeleteI watched as this magnificent piece of sculpture rose from the Earth ... I worked near the U of M campus. I've also spent many hours here!
ReplyDeleteGehry structures have some interest, but what bothers me most about them is that in general they seem to have no relationship to the site or to the neighboring buildings. How does this one work here? (I also suspect that they will leak and be impossible to maintain . . . )
ReplyDeleteLooks like it could lift off...into space!
ReplyDeleteI knew when I first opened this that that was the work of Gehry. Such an interesting structure.
ReplyDeleteI love Frank Gehry's buildings! Great shots, Kate.
ReplyDeleteNo problem to recognize Gehry! :-)
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that it presents a different face to the campus from the one it shows the outside world. Hmmm.
ReplyDeleteI saw your blog on Leaves of Grass and came for a visit. That building is certainly extraordinary. I would think that their collection is mostly modern artists?
ReplyDeletethat looks like an interesting building!!
ReplyDeleteI've not seen a Gehry building "in person." This, like others, looks very interesting. I'd love to see the brick side, and how the steel transitions to it.
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