The New York Times ran an article about the Bilbao effect Sunday:

“No one had heard of Bilbao or knew where it was,â€? said Terence Riley… “Nobody knew how to spell it.â€?

The Guggenheim changed that overnight….

In its first year, the Guggenheim was clocking about 100,000 visitors a month. And rather than drop off precipitously like a summer blockbuster, attendance rates have leveled off to “a cruising speed of around one million visitors a year,â€? said Juan Ignacio Vidarte, the Guggenheim’s director…

THE impact on this city of 354,000 was dramatic. Charmless business hotels and musty pensions were supplanted by trendy hotels like the Domine Bilbao and a Sheraton designed by the Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta. The rusty shipyards near the Guggenheim were razed for a manicured greenbelt of playgrounds, bicycle paths and riverside cafes. A lime-green tram was strung along the river, linking the Guggenheim to Casco Viejo and beyond.

And all across the city, a who’s who of architects added their marquee names to Bilbao’s work-in-progress skyline: Ã?lvaro Siza (university building), Cesar Pelli (40-story office tower), Santiago Calatrava (airport terminal), Zaha Hadid (master plan), Philippe Starck (wine warehouse conversion), Robert A. M. Stern (shopping mall) and Rafael Moneo (library), to name just a few…

The beautification was echoed throughout the city. Traffic circles like Plazas Campuzano and Indauxtu had been transformed into piazza-like parks, with sculptural lampposts, ergonomic benches and ultramodern landscaping. In place of polluting cars, laughing children now use them as impromptu soccer fields….(Source: New York TImes 9/23/07)

I’ve mentioned Bilbao several times because I think Elgin could experience a similar effect if it invested appropriately in world-class architecture. It’s pricey, but it’s worth it. Nothing can change the image of a city like architecture can. Why is architecture so powerful? Because it’s salient. It’s a landmark. It rises over metrics and provides a visual image that you can associate with a place.

And the only way to get the attention of the tastemakers is to build a contemporary building designed by a world-famous architect. There can be no compromise on this. The city has discussed a concert hall, but then cited the one in Fort Worth as a model. The one in Fort Worth simply has no architectural merits, because it’s designed as a reproduction. Any such building never gets attention from critics and tastemakers. Had these same critics and tastemakers ignored the Guggenheim building in Bilbao, nobody today would know a thing about the city of Bilbao.

My tastes happen to agree with the critics, but it’s not about our personal tastes. This is why I caution councilmen to not look for buildings that appeal to them personally, but look for buildings that will appeal to critics. If you want to know what kind of buildings they like, read the Sunday New York Times, Architectural Record, etc.

But I still don’t think that a concert hall is the best investment. The reason for this is several:

1. a concert hall is useful only during concerts and has limited number of seats for each concert–therefore a ceiling on the amount of visitors
2. a concert hall is generally closed to the public — you can’t just show up and walk around the building
3. rarely do people go to a concert hall just to see the building
4. Elgin already has a symphony orchestra and a concert hall
5. Elgin’s symphony is a quality orchestra, but not one that warrants a top-of-the-line concert hall

The better investment would be in a modern art museum, a Guggenheim Elgin. Why?

1. a museum is always open to the public — you can just show up and walk around, and there’s no limit to the number of visitors
2. a museum is a building for walking and looking around (unlike a concert hall which is for sitting and listening to music)
3. Elgin currently does not have an art museum — an art museum would round out Elgin’s cultural attractions

Is a Guggenheim Elgin realistic? Would the Guggenheim build in Elgin? I think it’s possible. The issue is money. From what I’ve read, the Guggenheim is willing to open branches when the locals are willing to pay for it. This is why they’re building a Guggenheim museum in Abu Dhabi.

What’s the price tag? I think it would be around $200M, which is a lot, but remember that the city has talked about a $125M concert hall. When you measure these two options against each other, the one that provides a superior return on investment is the museum.

The Guggenheim doesn’t currently have a presence in Chicagoland, so this would be an ideal location for them, since Chicago itself is already well-served by the Art Institute, especially with its new Renzo Piano expansion.

The Guggenheim chose Bilbao, a small industrial city rather than Madrid or Barcelona, so they may feel a similar affinity for Elgin. So I think it’s very possible. The question really is do we have the will to pursue it?

Filed under: arts, citycouncil, downtown, music.
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