Solomon R Keller Museum Essay

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In the midst of the concrete jungle of the city of New York, there stands an iconic art museum Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, designed by the celebrated American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Built in 1959, the museum flares as an expression of modern artistic construction.
The museum permanently houses “world-famous collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artworks, as well as some of the greatest 20th-century paintings by famous painters from all over the world” . The museum was named after the philanthropist, Solomon R. Guggenheim whose foundation supported its establishment by contributing to the modern and contemporary art. Its construction was proposed in order to house the Guggenheim’s four-year-old museum of non-objective
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The design is inspired by the Ziggurats of the Ancient Mesopotamia where visitors would walk up the ramp to reach the main deity.

As one ascends northwards along the boundary of the lush Central Park, the bulbous museum cannot be missed even from the corner of the eye. On a closer eye, the building reveals an advanced form, from a bulbous structure to an overturned four-tiered cake placed on one end of an elevated podium. The dramatic appearance of the building influences a first time visitor to speculate its function. However, a subtle yet a distinct signage overhead the porch bearing the name of the building indicate its function, and that being a museum.
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, as the name suggests comprises of three conspicuous design elements – the concentric tiers assuming a bulbous appearance, the porch running all along the extent of the museum and the rectangular tower assisting as a backdrop to this dramatic form of
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The unique architecture of the building harnesses the central space wherein the ramp encircles the central void. The central space which is conventionally occupied and utilized by the users, however, deviates in this museum. Installations are hung from the rotunda which can be viewed from both the bottom-up and from the top-bottom and the perspective drawn from either of the motion is spectacular by itself. This not only disrupts the passive movement in the central space but also fills the enormous volume of the museum core. The design interventions which are incorporated in order to enhance the user-space experience constitute a fountain surrounded by a seating area and planters with live plants – a means to connect the exterior with the

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