The "Bilbao Effect"....

The Louvre, Versailles. For St. Louis it would probably be that big steel monument, the arch.
(side note: if you ever go to St. Louis, go to shaw's garden, the zoo, and the city museum!!!)

And if you've ever been to Austin, Tx, the new Frost tower.

I don't know what came first but, they company who built the world trade centre has a distictive style. When I walked in the building, I was reminded of a similar building here, and continue to be reminded of the trade centre every time I go into the building here, I hope this makes sense. Both buildings were built by the same firm.

The art deco movement, probably best seen in Florida, inspired many buildings across N. America.
The Chrysler building also comes to mind.

The Bilbao museum fits spectacularly with the site, and not through pure serendipity but by design. The transformation makes sense, follows naturally, as the building and the surroundings work as a whole. Where else does that happen, I have to think.

I haven't seen it personally, but some pictures of Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Waters building show a stunning link of building and site.

Bernini's elliptical colonade that forms the piazza in front of St. Peter's at the Vatican is a transformative structure, enfolding the immense space. The surrounding neighborhood was later demo'd in large part when Mussolini cut a swath through it for a street to this piazza, commonly known as St. Peter's Square. Prior to that, the immense space was a surprise obtained by walking through the relatively narrow rather jumbly streets of the borgo. http://www.romeartlover.it/Vasi27z.jpg

Thanks for the wonderful link Osso....

The Eaton Centre , is #1 tourist attraction in Toronto...http://www.tecretail.ca/home/index.ch2
It's a huge indoor shopping mall with many different levels and a
vast glass barrel vaulted ceiling.....

Recently, it seems that Gehry has agreed to
build an extension to the Art Gallery of Ontario
in Toronto. He will have only one way to go....thats
up, since it is locked in by surrounding buildings
including the Ontario College of Art and Design....
It will be interesting to see if his work has "The Bilbao
Effect" and if the number of visitors to the AGO increases substantially......

The Tate Gallery in St Ives (Cornwall). It faces a truly beautiful beach and is built into the landscape in a wonderful setting.

Heard an interview on the CBC with Gehry the day after he presented his plan for the AGO. He said that, in his opinion, the Bilbao Effect was only partly related to his building. Apparently, the city was in the middle of a revitalization and that people don't usually take that into account. He said that another factor was that the city itself is small - so just a couple of changes can have a big impact. He doesn't expect the same effect on Toronto - though maybe on the immediate neighbourhood - which would be fine - that neighbourhood could use a bit of help.

..interesting eBeth, that Gehry would be so
modest. In the Globe this weekend a writer described Bilbao as a somewhat bleak seaport with
not much going for it before his building.

His creativity to me is absolutely delightful in
the "Ginger and Fred" building
http://lava.ds.arch.tue.nl/gallery/praha/f8.html

I cannot think of Sydney, Australia without
thinking of Jorn Utzon's Sydney Opera House......
http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Sydney_Opera.html

The story I always liked about the Sydney opera House was that the design was pulled out of the reject pile and reconsidered (fortunately). There is a town office building in Connecticut that as a large (3x4 ft) photo portrait of that building taken from the harbor. I stop to look every time I go in there.

Building in the Sky, the Ontario College of Art and Design's new building in Toronto may have this effect on architecture.
http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/features/building_sky/index.html#

Great link Ceili! The new building in the sky does rather overpower the building beneath it, what do you think? I wonder if they plan to change the exterior of the existing OCAD so that it blends
a little more harmoniously?

I don't think they do. I listen to the radio documentary last night and I believe they are interested in hanging other building is and around the original. Only time will tell I guess.

I listened to that program last night, ceili. It was really interesting listening to all the different perspectives.

a couple of recent Gehry articles -

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/29/arts/design/29TORO.html?8br

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/18/arts/18MUSC.html?pagewanted=all

http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/features/building_sky/index.html#

Building in the sky.....Ontario College of Art
and Design, Toronto

I walked past this building last night on the way
to view the Modigliani show at the Art Gallery of
Ontario.

The building/addition was lit up with what looked like purple neon lights...It seems to hover on its gigantic, colourful pencil-like stilts floating over the
top of the old and conservative structure of the original OCAD....This could do with a new facade!

All those photos didn't open up for me, probably some problem with my computer (I think I should be filing some desktop stuff away...)
I see articles re Toronto architecture fairly often on the ArchNewsNow newsletter (http://www.archnewsnow.com/). I think of posting them here, but I figure Toronto people know about them. Maybe I'll start a thread on it anyway, to add links as they pass by my screen...

So does the existing building now seem old and tired, will the new one work with it or clash like mad? clash and still work?

Try this link....

http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/features/building_sky/

I think one's eyes are riveted on the new structure
which was lit up, now that I think about it
more descriptively, with what looked like
ultra-violet light.....very spacey! Fun, fun, fun!

A little better, but not quite there. Perhaps I have to wait a bit for them to open up. In the meantime, now is a good time for me to clear my desktop saves.