Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, U.S.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, which is located right next to Central Park in New York City, was designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright and constructed between 1943 and 1959. Most art museums only allow terrible people to say "Is this art?" while inside the building, but at the Guggenheim, it's also possible to say it while standing outside.
The cylinder-shaped building, which has a wider top than the bottom, was intended to serve as a "chapel of the spirit." Its unique ramp gallery ascends from floor level in a long, uninterrupted spiral along the building's exterior walls, coming to an end right beneath the roof skylight. The building underwent significant enlargement and modifications when a nearby tower was finished in 1992, as well as from 2005 to 2008. Rebay envisioned the space as a "temple of the soul," offering a novel viewpoint on the modern components of the collection.
Even before it opened, some critics complained that the design was such a work of art in and of itself that it risked overshadowing the artwork inside, which honestly feels like a pretty good review for Wright's work.
Completed: 1937
Function: Art museum
Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright (1867 – 1959)
Location: Manhattan, New York, United States
