Sights — Bilbao’s Guggenheim Museum

Bilbao’s Guggenheim MuseumWhile the collection of art in this museum is no better than that in Europe’s other great modern-art museums, the building itself — designed by Frank Gehry and opened in 1997 — is the reason why so many travelers happily splice Bilbao into their itineraries.

Gehry’s triumph offers a fascinating look at 21st-century architecture. Using cutting-edge technologies, unusual materials, and daring forms, he created a piece of sculpture that smoothly integrates with its environment and serves as the perfect stage for some of today’s best art.

This limestone- and titanium tile–clad building looks like a huge, silvery fish, and connects the city with its river. Gehry meshed many visions. To him, the building’s multiple forms jostle like a loose crate of bottles. They also evoke sails heading out to sea. Gehry keeps returning to his fish motif, reminding visitors that, as a boy, he was inspired by carp…even taking them into the bathtub with him. The building’s skin — shiny, metallic, fish-like scales — is made of thin titanium, carefully created to give just the desired color and reflective quality.

A great way to really enjoy the exterior is to take a circular stroll up and down each side of the river along the handsome promenade and over the two modern pedestrian bridges.

Guarding the main entrance is artist Jeff Koons’ 42-foot-tall West Highland Terrier. Its 60,000 plants and flowers, which blossom in concert, grow through steel mesh. A joyful structure, it brings viewers back to their childhood…perhaps evoking humankind’s relationship to God…or maybe it’s just another notorious Koons hoax. One thing is clear: It answers to “Puppy.”

Descend to the ticket counters. Be sure to pick up a free audioguide when you pay — it explains Gehry’s architecture in vivid detail and describes the rotating exhibits.

After presenting your ticket, you come upon the atrium. This is clearly the heart of the building, pumping visitors from various rooms on three levels out and back, always returning to this central area before moving on to the next. Only the floor is straight. The architect invites you to caress the sensual curves of the walls. Notice the sheets of glass that make up the elevator shaft: They overlap like scales on a fish. The various glass and limestone panels are each unique, designed and shaped by a computer — as will likely be standard in constructing the great buildings of the future.

From the atrium, step out onto the riverside terrace. The shallow pool lets the river lick at the foundations of the building. Notice the museum’s commitment to public spaces: On the right, a grand and public staircase leads under a big green bridge to a tower designed to wrap the bridge into the museum’s grand scheme.

As you enter, pick up the English brochure explaining the architecture and museum layout, and the monthly bulletin detailing the art currently on display. It’s a nice supplement to the audioguide. Because this museum is part of the Guggenheim “family” of museums, the collection perpetually rotates among the sister Guggenheim galleries in New York, Venice, and Berlin. The best approach to your visit is simply to immerse yourself in a modern-art happening, rather than to count on seeing a particular piece or a specific artist’s works. Gehry designed the vast ground floor mainly to show off the often-huge modern-art installations. Computer-controlled lighting adjusts for different exhibits. Surfaces are clean and bare, so you can focus on the art.

Twenty galleries occupy three floors. Use the handy touch-screens scattered throughout the museum to figure out exactly where you are and what’s left to see, since the organic floor plan can be confusing. If you’ve always confused Klimt with Matisse, be sure to visit the espacio didáctico (learning area) on the third floor for its brilliantly concise timeline of all major art movements.

Details: €12.50, includes excellent audioguide; July–Aug daily 10:00–20:00; Sept–June Tue–Sun 10:00–20:00, closed Mon; same-day re-entry allowed — get bracelet on your way out; café, no photos inside, tram stop: Guggenheim, Metro stop: Moyua, Avenida Abandoibarra 2, tel. 944-359-080, www.guggenheim-bilbao.es. For guided tours in English, call 944-359-090 for a schedule.