"It's very difficult for buildings nowadays to have a sense of drama. We are so used to the rectilinear box that a building that breaks out of that convention has to be daring to succeed, and this is a daring and successful building," said David Gordon, director of the Milwaukee Art Museum" (MacMillan)
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
The Solomon R. Guggenheim's restored facade was revealed in fall 2008 (Heald)
Wright was commissioned to create the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in 1943. The inverted-ziggurat design was not built until 1959. On October 21, 1959, six months after Wright's death, the museum opened to the public.
This was Wright's most important work of his late career since it was so monumental and different. Nothing in this style had ever been built before. The museum provides "the unique architecture of the space, with its spiral ramp riding to a domed skylight, continues to thrill visitors and provide a unique forum for the presentation of contemporary art." Architecture critic,Paul Goldberger, stated, "Wright's building made it socially and culturally acceptable for an architect to design a highly expressive, intensely personal museum. In this sense almost every museum of our time is a child of the Guggenheim" (Drutt). Wright received much criticism from the museum's second director, James Johnson Sweeney. They disagreed on many aspects of the museums design. Since the Guggenheim was built, other museums have been built with abstract designs. The Frederic C. Hamilton building at the Denver Art Museum is an example.
This was Wright's most important work of his late career since it was so monumental and different. Nothing in this style had ever been built before. The museum provides "the unique architecture of the space, with its spiral ramp riding to a domed skylight, continues to thrill visitors and provide a unique forum for the presentation of contemporary art." Architecture critic,Paul Goldberger, stated, "Wright's building made it socially and culturally acceptable for an architect to design a highly expressive, intensely personal museum. In this sense almost every museum of our time is a child of the Guggenheim" (Drutt). Wright received much criticism from the museum's second director, James Johnson Sweeney. They disagreed on many aspects of the museums design. Since the Guggenheim was built, other museums have been built with abstract designs. The Frederic C. Hamilton building at the Denver Art Museum is an example.