New York: Spiral to heaven

Thanks to movies and popular fiction (and perhaps the Empire State), New York is one of the most popular places to visit in the US. Not that I’ve run any statistics to check numbers – but the city does show up on everyone’s list of places they’ve been to in the US. I had my own list of must do things when I visited the city last year. Prioritized based on order of excitement, I’m going to focus on the day I visited Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.

I stayed close to the Public Library when I visited New York and was very sure that I wanted to walk up and not drive to the museum, to ensure the perfect ‘Guggenheim’ experience. So I walked all the way from 42^nd street on Fifth Avenue to the 88^th street, getting more excited with every block I crossed, giving live telephonic commentary to my sleepy husband, located in another time zone.

The 2.5 mile walk from the New York Public Library to Guggenheim Museum on a sunny April day with mild drizzles

That may sound a bit crazy and far fetched, but you’ll really need to know a bit about the architect who designed the building – Frank Lloyd Wright or FLW to know why it was important. A renowned modern architect, it’s hard to say what made him so popular – stunning modern architectural designs inspired by nature, sensational personal life choices (he had three wives and eight children; he even got arrested for running away with another man’s wife) or inspiration to one of the most controversial and loved authors at the time – Ayn Rand. FLW was known to come up with building concepts on the fly, just before meeting clients, because he was already late or had not managed to put something together within the time agreed with clients. The Guggenheim Museum is especially unique from that perspective – FLW produced over 700 sketches and several sets of working drawings over a 13-year span before finalizing the design for this building.

Frank Lloyd Wright; Source: https://karsh.org/photographs/frank-lloyd-wright/

The Guggenheim Museum was commissioned by Solomon Guggenheim in 1943, to house his collection of non-objective paintings – some of my favorites are popularly referenced as Modern and Impressionist art. Non-objective artworks, paintings and sculptures depict abstract concepts, thoughts or ‘impressions’, rather than real images of people or objects. Given most people struggle to understand what they depict, here’s my two cents on what makes this style of art special – You can look at them for days, weeks and years without getting bored. The ‘abstractness’ or ‘impressionism’, allows each piece of art to be interpreted in personalized and unique ways depending on the individual looking at them. My favorite example to depict this is ‘Starry Night’ by Vincent van Gogh. I have heard several versions of what people thought when they look at this picture – be it hallucinations of an alcoholic artist, blurry visuals from a dream, experiments in mixing paints, energy radiations from stars in the sky, to some sorcery seen on a star-lit night sky!

The 'Starry Night' by Vincent van Gogh is one of the most iconic and popular paintings from the Impressionist era

Back to the building now. With post war inflation and the death of Solomon Guggenheim in 1949, construction of the museum was delayed by about 13 years. Finally completed in 1959, the museum was opened six months after FLW’s death. An embodiment of Solomon and FLW’s vision on art and architecture, neither man lived to see the museum opening. Even today, it is hard to say if the museum is more popular for being an architectural memorial to FLW, or because it houses art that continue to inspire controversy and debate.

As I walked up to 88^th street, the petite white ‘cylindrical’ building looked like an organic structure standing on Fifth Avenue across Central Park, in complete contrast to the rest of the Manhattan skyline. Satisfied after looking around from across the street, I walked in to take a tour of the museum.

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum from across Fifth Avenue, New York; © Janani Rajagopalan

Walking into Guggenheim Museum; © Janani Rajagopalan

The interior of the museum opens into a massive glass-roofed atrium, that is surrounded angular, spiraling walkways that display art. Standing in the middle of the atrium, you can see people milling around the walkways, admiring art that is neatly arranged along them.

View of the atrium and spiralling corridors; © Janani Rajagopalan 

The spiralling corridors provide slightly tilted surfaces that mirror the aesel of an artist; © Janani Rajagopalan  

Prominent pieces from Solomon’s art collection includes modern paintings by Marc Chagall, Pablo Picasso, Piet Mondrian and Wassily Kandinsky. Later in the 1970’s, impressionist paintings by Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gaugin and Édouard Manet were also introduced. I was lucky enough to see an original Jackson Pollock, restored and displayed as part of on-going exhibition.

Looking at my first ever original van Gogh painting "Mountains At Saint Rémy"; © Janani Rajagopalan 

Admiring a Mondrian painting "Tableau No. 2/Composition No. VII"; © Janani Rajagopalan 

The "Alchemy" by Jackson Pollock was one of the most intricately detailed painting I've ever seen. The colors and the way they come together on this painting never stop to amaze

Right below the atrium, the top-most walkway provides a lovely view of the Red Lily Pads by Alexander Calder, suspended below the atrium. Tempted to lean over and click pictures of the atrium, I had security folks glare and caution me about falling overboard into the atrium. While warning me for the third time, the lady guard pointed out that she was more concerned that I might hurt the ‘nice’ people walking below, if I fell overboard due to my ‘silliness’ while trying to click a picture.

This shot with the Red Lily Pads turned out just the way I had imagined Guggenheim since I first saw pictures. This was the last click before I decided security might throw me out of the museum; © Janani Rajagopalan

Content, I wallowed around Central Park for the rest of the day, waiting to see the sun’s last rays on the museum building. Though I didn’t manage any evening pictures thanks to a wet camera, that day was probably the happiest day I spent travelling in the US J

France: Concrete Poetry

Built completely in concrete and stone, the Notre Dame du Haut in Ronchamp (France), completed in 1954 is one of the most celebrated works of Le Corbusier, the Franco-Swiss architect known for his Modern designs.

The Notre Dame du Haut designed by Le Corbusier
Source:http://www.bluffton.edu/

The Outdoor altar set against the Eastern Facade,
Picture by: Fransesco Di Capua

The North Facade, Source: http://the189.com/

The chapel, as it looked in 1965, source: http://architecturalmoleskine.blogspot.in/

The chapel stands in a little town on a hill with lush greenery and uninterrupted views of neighboring villages. The building's powerful presence in the landscape, the dark dramatic Gothic interiors lit by diffused light, the raw, textured and austere finishes in stone and concrete, conjure up a powerful, yet humbling experience.The design invokes a feeling of awe while keeping alive the stories and history of the place. 

Hidden light sources and unique angular cutouts in the walls soften all the light entering the chapel, creating different shadows and hues throughout the day. Source: http://www.speirsandmajor.com/

The location was occupied by the Romans, then a Celtic shrine, followed by a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary in the 15th century which was destroyed by a fire in 1913. After being rebuilt in the Gothic style, it was again destroyed during the second World War. When Le Corbusier designed the new chapel in 1950, he built the structure around the ruins of the burnt Church. 

A pyramid erected using remnants of the original Church,
Source:  http://content.lib.washington.edu/

The eastern facade with the altar and the cross set against it, Source: http://www.waymarking.com/

The eastern facade has been designed with an altar both on the outside for an open congregation and the inside. The thick, white, roughcast concrete wall act as a frame for outdoor masses and worship, while the shell-like overhanging roof acts as a surrounding board for the hymns sung and the sermons given outside. 

The convex looking eastern facade which provides the perfect backdrop for the outdoor congregations, Source: http://www.arthitectural.com/

The pedestal provides for large outdoor congregations

Both areas are complete with the lectern, the man-sized Christian cross, the choir tribune and a rotatable statue of the virgin, an 18th century colored statue in a glass covered niche visible from both inside and outside. 

The little cut outs in the walls with the light shining through, look like stars from inside the chapel as we look upon the altar.

The staircase leading up to one of the smaller chapels, Source: http://www.bdonline.co.uk/

The glass niche with the statue of the virgin surrounded by tiny fenestrations in the wall
which let in just enough light to make them shine like stars behind the altar, Picture: Richard Anderson

The altar, the cross and the glass enclosure, Source: http://farm3.staticflickr.com/

The northern facade has the second entrance and the stairs. There are three smaller chapels within the interiors, each housed within one of the semi-cylindrical structures. The door is spectacularly framed between two semi circular cylinders which house the two of the chapels placed symmetrically along the axis of the door.

The three semi cylindrical structures housing the minor chapels, Source:http://www.dailyicon.net/

Source: http://www.bluffton.edu/

The south facade contains the main door, which is a colorful composition in red, yellow and blue by Le Corbusier himself.

The south facade, Source: http://www.flickr.com/

The entry is framed by grey concrete panels,
Source: http://www.bluffton.edu/

The main entrance door, source: http://architecturalmoleskine.blogspot.in/

This facade bears all the interesting cut outs which not only emphasize the thickness of the walls and the grainy texture on the walls, but are also used to create the mystical lighting effect in the interiors of the building. The angular depressions in the windows diffuse and soften the light entering the building to create an ethereal effect.

The colored glass within the openings, Source: Ed Tyler

The colors and shadows create a dramatic effect in the interior
Source: http://www.speirsandmajor.com/

Adding to the mystique, is a thin gap left between the walls and the roof. They not only allow thin strips of light, but also make the concrete roof look lighter. The walls are not load bearing. The roof is upheld by columns concealed within the walls!

The gap between the walls and roof gives a floating effect

The pews are also arranged at an angle further emphasizing the position of the altar.

The curved roof seems to float above the building, Source: http://archidialog.com/

The divine nature of the building, owing to its restrained, austere look and the dramatic play of light and shadows can be seen in many later projects like the Church of Light designed by Tadao Ando.

The Church of Light by Tadao Ando
Copyright © 2011 // Milamoo Creative Studio / Eden / 10-12 Woolpack Yard / Stricklandgate / Kendal / LA9 4NG