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The Bilbao Effect: is 'starchitecture' all it’s cracked up to be? Every struggling post-industrial city has the same idea: hire a star architect (like Frank Gehry) to design a branch of a famous museum (like the Guggenheim), and watch your city blossom with culture. After all, it worked for Bilbao ... didn’t it? Tomasz Kacprzak, chairman of the city council of Łódź, the third-biggest city in Poland, was telling me about the time he met David Lynch. “We went to his house in California,” Kacprzak said. “He loves Łódź. He wants to build us a cultural centre.” (Lynch’s plan for a 90-acre site comprising a film studio, cinema, gallery, offices and bar in an abandoned power plant in Łódź – the city that also inspired the cult director’s film Inland Empire – is expected to open in 2016.) “Actually,” Kacprzak continued, “Lynch’s house is not great. The interior. It is not modern.” “Oh, no,” I said. “Retro? Nineties?” “No,” Kacprzak said. “Eighties. Gehry’s house was much nicer.” “You went to Frank Gehry’s house, too?” This was interesting. We were standing in the soaring atrium of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, designed by Gehry. Through the window, in the courtyard, you could make out the back of Jeff Koons’ huge, Edward Scissorhands-style plant sculpture, Puppy. “Yes,” Kacprzak said. “We asked for the Guggenheim in Łódź.” “You wanted Gehry to design a new museum?” “No,” Kacprzak said. “The same.” He swept his arm over the pine, glass and steel that curved above our heads. “You wanted him to build the exact same building?” “Yes,” Kacprzak said casually. “The same. But we would use it for a concert hall.” Much is made of the so-called ‘Bilbao effect’, the idea that attracting a world-class cultural institution – in Bilbao’s case, a branch of New York’s Guggenheim art museum – will put your city on the map, and in turn attract more investment, brands, tourism and cultural energy. This was the first time, however, that I’d heard someone say they wanted to copy Bilbao’s building exactly, swooping metal sheet for swooping metal sheet. “What did Gehry say?” I asked. “He said, ‘OK – but it will very expensive.’” Kacprzak shrugged. “We are a small city.” So, of course, was Bilbao 18 years ago when it rose to fame almost overnight. The fourth-largest city in Spain had lost its former glory as a manufacturing centre: its factories shuttered, its port decrepit. But after Spain joined the EU in 1986, Basque Country authorities embarked on an ambitious redevelopment programme for their biggest city. They drafted in expensive architects to design an airport (Santiago Calatrava), a metro system (Norman Foster), and a footbridge (Calatrava again), and in 1991 landed their biggest fish – the Solomon R Guggenheim Foundation, which decided to bring a new branch of the legendary Guggenheim Museum to the city, and hired star California architect Frank Gehry to build it. The building was an instant hit. Critics agreed Gehry’s deconstructed meringue of sweeping metal, which opened in 1997, was a work of “mercurial brilliance”. The collection inside, featuring art by Willem De Kooning, Mark Rothko, Anselm Kiefer and Richard Serra, was world-class. The construction even came in on budget, at $89m. What’s more, Bilbao now had a landmark. Visitor spending in the city jumped, recouping the building cost within three years. Five years after construction, Bilbao estimated that its economic impact on the local economy was worth €168m, and poured an additional €27m into Basque government tax coffers – the equivalent of adding 4,415 jobs. More than one million people annually now visit the museum, which became the centrepiece of the Bilbao Art District: a cluster composed of the maritime museum, the fine arts museum and the Sala Rekalde art centre. In 2010, French designer Philippe Starck completed his renovation of a former wine cellar to create the Alhondiga culture and leisure centre (recently rebranded as Azkuna Zentroa). And Zaha Hadid has presented radical plans to redevelop the neglected Zorrozaurre peninsula and turn it into a high-tech residential and cultural island. A struggling city, decimated by the decline of its manufacturing base, had seemingly reinvented itself by – of all things – betting big on culture. Other post-industrial cities noticed. When I told Kacprzak’s story to Maria Fernandez Sabau, a cultural and museum consultant for cities around the world, she sighed. “Yes, many of my clients say the same thing: give us the Guggenheim,” she said. “Often the exact same building! But you can’t just copy it.” Don’t tell that to Abu Dhabi. Possibly in an attempt to buttress itself against the day the oil runs out, the city is building a museum complex called Saadiyat Island, which will feature branches of not just the Guggenheim (again) but the Louvre as well. In Hong Kong, the West Kowloon Cultural District will be home to M+, a new museum of Chinese contemporary art. There are plans for new cultural hubs centred on museums in Mecca, in Tirana, in Belo Horizonte and in Perth, Australia. It’s the same in the UK: Dundee has drafted in Kengo Kuma to build a new V&A Museum of Design, while Liverpool and Margate have welcomed the Tate Liverpool (designed by James Stirling) and the Turner Contemporary (David Chipperfield). Every city, it seems, wants to create the next Bilbao-Guggenheim-Gehry vortex. Praise for this model reached its zenith last month, as mayors, cultural attachés and city representatives descended on Bilbao for the UCLG Cities and Culture Conference. Walking the streets with Kacprzak from Łódź, I could see what the delegates liked so much. The city centre is clean. There are lots of expensive retail shops. “El Fosterito”, the glass-tube metro entrances designed by Foster, are slick and futuristic. And the people seem disproportionately well-off. Presiding over it all, like a monolith of gentrification, is the Guggenheim. Yet despite this icon of culture, the city seems strangely quiet. Where are the local galleries, the music, the graffiti, the skateboarders? Spain’s difficulties with youth unemployment are well-documented, but I expected more twentysomethings in what is regularly billed as a cultural capital. Does the Guggenheim actually encourage creativity in the city, as advertised, or is it a Disneylandish castle on the hill with a fancy name and an expensive entrance fee for tourists and the well-heeled? Is the Bilbao effect to spread culture, or just to spread money? “The Guggenheim put our city on the map, no question. But you also can’t get anything support here unless it’s top-down,” says Manu Gómez-Álvarez, an animated man of around 40 wearing earrings and a black hoodie, who is the driving force behind ZAWP, the Zorrozaurre Art Working Progress, a cultural group based on the Bilbao peninsula that Zaha Hadid proposes to completely redevelop. ZAWP is precisely the kind of cultural organisation that gets praised in megacities like London and New York. It’s a decentralised collective of young artists, theatre-makers, musicians and designers, with co-making spaces in the old industrial buildings of Zorrozaurre and a thriving entrepreneurial atmosphere in their colourful, funky headquarters – which also house a bar, a cafe, a gig space and a theatre. Gómez-Álvarez is leading a movement he calls Meanwhile, which aims to use the still-derelict buildings of the peninsula as temporary sites for plays, gigs, artistic interventions or even just cafes. Every proposal, at every turn, gets the same answer back from the authorities: no. “There’s no support for grassroots culture,” he says. “We waited 20 years before we got any funding from the government at all.” Last year, he says ZAWP finally received a grant – but they still don’t get a permanent home in the new Zorrozaurre, and will almost certainly have to move again. It’s hard to imagine: ZAWP’s premises are huge, stretching through half a dozen buildings and decorated in amazingly elaborate detail. And yet “we are nomads”, says Gómez-Álvarez. I asked Igor de Quadra, who runs Karraskan Bilbao – a network of more than a dozen theatre groups, venues and creative organisations – what he thought of the Guggenheim’s effect. He struggled to frame his words carefully. “It is fine for what it is,” he said at last, “but it gets a lot of attention from people who are just passing through. Events like this [uCLG forum] take up a lot of attention, but don’t leave much behind for Bilbao culture. Frankly, we don’t think about the Guggenheim.” The Guggenheim certainly doesn’t claim to be in the business of fostering local culture, nor would you expect it to. The museum has some Basque art and occasionally runs cultural workshops, but it’s an international art museum, rather incongruously plonked down in northern Spain. (Extreme Basque nationalists didn’t take kindly to its arrival: the week before it opened, ETA killed a police officer in a foiled attempt to bomb the museum.) There are, of course, Basque cultural organisations in the city, such as Harrobia Bilbao, a performing arts group established in a former church in the Otxarkoaga area in 2011, but their presence feels surprisingly marginal in a city that is supposed to be at the heart of Basque culture. “In English Canada, culture’s nice to have – in French Canada, it’s crucial,” says Simon Brault, head of the Arts Council of Canada, talking about a similar dynamic between French-speaking Quebec and the rest of the country. Brault helmed what you might call an “anti-Bilbao effect” – a completely different type of culture-led regeneration in another struggling post-industrial city, Montreal. Brault helped found an open, non-hierarchical cultural network called Culture Montreal, which rather than speaking only to the Guggenheims and cultural superstars of the city, was open to everyday Montrealers – bar owners, teachers, musicians. “An artist just in from Chile would be at the same table as the head of Cirque du Soleil,” he says. The aim wasn’t to secure funding for massive projects, but to put culture at the heart of the city’s regeneration. It was controversial at first. “The cultural groups thought it was a distraction and that what the culture sector needed was more money,” he said. “But within a year, we got what cultural groups had been asking for for 20 years: a seat at the table.” Rather than championing culture only for an elite group of professionals – and asking for money just for the huge institutions – Culture Montreal was better received by city and provincial governments, says Brault. Their goals were less arrogant: to increase cultural access for Montrealers, and to include culture as part of the solution to any civic problems. They achieved this, Brault says, by making everyone feel as though culture was a daily part of everyone’s life, not something for a sophisticated few. “There is definitely room for starchitects, but it’s always better to tap into local culture rather than buy it from outside. You can’t do culture in a city without involving citizens,” he said. So, which is the better way for cities – bottom-up cultural movements or big-ticket splashes? “Of course, there will always be top-down decisions,” Brault said. “The key is to look for a middle ground.” Hadid’s billion-pound redevelopment of Zorrozaurre will be a test for that middle ground in Bilbao. Will its 6,000 new houses, two new technology centres and park genuinely engage with local culture, or will it simply be a flashy area for rich Spaniards looking for a waterfront property? The Bilbao effect might be famous, but it’s here that it could be truly tested. Those cities around the globe hoping a brand-name museum will save them should be watching carefully. “The Guggenheim Bilbao was a rare occurrence,” says museum consultant Maria Fernandez Sabau. “There was an incredible confluence of amazing, talented people. You had a museum that was hungry to expand, available land for cheap, a government with money, an architect itching to make a statement, and a city that desperately needed a new reason to exist. You can’t just buy that.” http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/apr/30/bilbao-effect-gehry-guggenheim-history-cities-50-buildings?CMP=twt_gu

(Courtesy of eitb.com) I hope Telefonica suffers for this. I feel bad for the people who use them. From what I read Telefonica operates 75% of Spains communications

NDRL: Ça revient à la discussion vu ailleur sur mtlurb racontant pourquoi que Montréal ne prend pas ce moment de regain d'énergie pour ce construire un Icône. Source: Créativité Montréal Le renouveau de Lille et Bilbao lundi 03 mars 2008 Tag(s) : conférence Le chercheur Thomas Werquin donnera le 11 mars prochain une conférence sur le thème "Les grands projets urbains comme réponse au déclin des villes industrielles". Il illustrera son propos avec deux projets: Euralille en France et Abandoibarra en Espagne, où est implanté le musée Guggenheim de Bilbao. Pour enrayer le déclin de Lille et Bilbao dans les années 80, les acteurs publics ont investi massivement dans des projets urbains très ambitieux qui avaient deux principaux objectifs: créer les conditions favorables à l'installation de nouvelles activités économiques et casser leur image de ville déclinante. Pour y parvenir, les municipalités ont fait appel à certains des plus grands architectes du moment, tels César Pelli, Rem Koolhaas, Jean Nouvel, Norman Foster, Frank O. Gerry et Christian de Portzamparc, qui ont construit des musées, bureaux, logements et stations de métro. Amphithéâtre Hydro-Québec, local 1120 Faculté de l'aménagement de l'Université de Montréal 2940 Côte-Sainte-Catherine Mardi 11 mars, 17h par Bénédicte Prouvost, Créativité Montréal

Signé Montréal! [/url] Normand Thériault Édition du samedi 16 et du dimanche 17 février 2008 Mots clés : architectes, Musée Guggenheim, Municipalité, Montréal Des villes se redonnent une nouvelle identité en laissant architectes et promoteurs libres d'opérer en toute audace Photo: Agence France-Presse Autrefois, Bilbao était une triste ville industrielle dont le port débordait jusqu'au centre-ville. Les bateaux y sont aujourd'hui en moins grand nombre. Nul ne s'en plaint, résidants et touristes ayant pris d'assaut les rives. Bilbao est devenu un modèle de relance urbaine. Serait-ce possible de croire qu'un jour Montréal aura aussi en son territoire des constructions monumentales qui feront à leur tour l'envie des autres capitales? showBigBox(); Montréal se reconstruit. Nul ne se plaint de voir les différents «parkings», comme autant de «caries» dans le paysage urbain, lentement être éliminés au profit de nouvelles constructions. Et si l'audace architecturale est rarement au rendez-vous, dans l'ensemble les constructions ont une certaine qualité: les acheteurs de condominiums, à qui souvent on demande près d'une demi-million, jamais moins de 150 000 S, ne veulent plus de ces boîtes à beurre que divers promoteurs proposaient dans les années 1950 et 1960 à tous les locataires en manque de logements. Car visiter certains secteurs de Rosemont, Hochelaga, Verdun, Côte-des-Neiges, Villeray est souvent une expérience déroutante quand s'accumulent au regard autant de 4 et demie, de 5 et demie, distribués de part en part d'une cage d'escalier que laisse voir une baie vitrée en plein centre de la construction. Si, Montréal est toujours une ville de locataires, et on peut parfois s'en plaindre quand on constate la mauvaise qualité architecturale des habitations qu'on leur destinait. Toutefois, Montréal n'est pas en Occident la seule ville qui doive aujourd'hui se dépêtrer des conséquences du boom immobilier de l'après-guerre. Aussi, de Baltimore à plus d'une ville européenne, on voit prendre forme des initiatives qui corrigent les erreurs du passé. Ouvrages marquants Jusqu'à l'Expo 67, les monuments de Montréal furent la Sun Life ou un oratoire sur le flanc du Mont-Royal, et qui dans ce dernier cas fut longtemps en construction. Puis vint un boom. La Place Ville-Marie comme la Tour de la Bourse d'un Pier Luigi Nervi ou les appartements Westmount de Mies van der Rohe sont sortis de terre. L'exposition universelle a elle aussi fait rêver avec ces pavillons et surtout le dôme géodésique de Buckminster Füller et l'Habitat de Moishe Safdie, ces deux ouvrages qui, chacun, s'inscrivait, et demeure encore, de plein droit sur la carte architecturale mondiale. Puis l'accalmie. On n'a pas cependant cessé de construire, et souvent avec beaucoup de souci architectural: l'ensemble qui constitue le Quartier international en témoigne, tout comme certains ouvrages sis de part en part de René-Lévesque. Et certaines constructions ont fait l'objet de plus d'un commentaire où l'éloge ne figurait pas dans la teneur des propos: la première crise qui a marqué les récentes constructions de l'UQAM, dans le cas précis de l'édifice de la TELUQ, n'a d'abord pas été financière. Et les murs de verre du nouveau Palais des congrès ont vu rebondir plus d'un quolibet (et à son voisin immédiat, l'édifice de la Caisse de dépôt, plus d'un reproche a été adressé: pour certains, pourquoi payer plus cher pour une architecture de qualité, quand on peut construire avec des «plywoods» et des blocs de béton?). Argent manquant Il est en fait une contrainte lourde qui entache tout l'univers bâti québécois: la même politique qui prévaut chez Wal-Mart, celle du «beau-bon-pas-cher-et-ne-vaut-pas-plus», s'appliquerait en ce domaine. Pense-t-on à un centre hospitalier universitaire, un musée, une salle de concert, qu'avant même de voir un plan, une esquisse architecturale, hommes et femmes politiques, accompagnés de leurs administrateurs, s'affichent pour informer des économies en cours. Résultat: s'il est possible de recourir au préfabriqué, on le fera, quitte à ajouter des plantes et quelques puits de lumière pour animer les intérieurs, le privé commercial et industriel nous ayant en effet montré la voie, celle qui permet de tout ériger rapidement, quitte à démolir aussi vite, et ce sans regrets. Aussi, les nouvelles usines et les entrepôts que l'on construit présentement deviendraient-ils des constructions obsolètes qu'à la différence des Lowneys et Impérial d'un siècle passé, il ne serait point question de les reconvertir en lofts et autres condos: un simple bulldozer peut les éliminer de l'histoire. Et les dénonciateurs d'audace ont beau jeu. Projetterait-on une oeuvre originale qu'ils monteraient au créneau pour rappeler le fiasco olympique, dont une mauvaise planification justifie encore à leurs yeux tout ce qui ne découle pas d'une réalité platement bétonnée. Et de réclamer plus d'écoles, plus d'hôpitaux qui font le bonheur des ministres des Finances, mais rendent tristes leurs utilisateurs et usagers. Rêves donnés Les gens du Québec prennent toutefois l'avion pour aller assister à des renaissances lointaines. Ils voient aussi dans les films, ou sur les canaux spécialisés, des images qui font rêver. Et ils constatent qu'en plus d'un Londres ou d'un Paris historique, il est d'autres quartiers à voir et que le Louvre, outre ses oeuvres d'art, abrite aussi une pyramide qui longtemps fit rugir plus d'un Parisien conservateur. Et de parler aussi de Rotterdam, de villes nordiques, de villes espagnoles comme Bilbao ou Barcelone, de ces villes qui ont su renaître quand les nouvelles conditions économiques entraînaient la fermeture complète de plus d'un quartier. Montréal aura aussi à réagir: de quoi aura l'air en fait ce nouveau Griffintown dont on parle ces jours-ci: un parking pour humains et autos, avec des boutiques et des voies urbaines? Que fera-t-on aussi quand le réseau sud de Bonaventure ou la cour Turcot seront débarrassés de l'actuel filet autoroutier? Et ailleurs aussi, quel sera l'avenir construit d'Outremont ou de Montréal-Ouest, pour ne nommer que quelques évidences? Possibilités réelles On sait déjà que la nouvelle salle de l'OSM sera sans doute un édifice conventionnel et on espère que les futurs agrandissements de musées permettront à des Hanganu de répéter l'aventure de Pointe-à-Callière, mais quand verrons-nous à Montréal un monument qui comme à Bilbao donne une signature à une ville? Pourtant qui aujourd'hui achète une résidence devrait savoir que la beauté environnante influe sur la valeur de son achat. Les petites économies sont en fait de mauvais placements. http://www.ledevoir.com/2008/02/16/176237.html