Bilbao

Today is the first day of a two day excursion to the north coast of Spain. We spent most of the day in Bilbao, and what I mean by that is that we spent most of the day in the Guggenheim. I don't mean any disrespect to the city itself, but there's nothing about it that sets itself apart from any other Spanish town we've been through other than the huge sculpture in the middle of it. Having said that I don't think the Guggenheim would have the same effect if it wasn't interacting with this quaint little city.

Most of my thoughts today revolved around Gehry himself. It seems to me he's a guilty pleasure for most architects. They poke fun in public, but behind closed doors they are in awe. Not necessarily because they think his buildings are so amazing, but because they wish they could get clients to spend exorbitant amounts of money to feed their creative whims. That's the one thing I think you take away from a guy like that, the idea we're not as constrained as we think we are. I think he also reminds us that architecture doesn't have to be so serious all the time. So for what it's worth, enjoy!