Plan for $950 Million Guggenheim Museum in Lower Manhattan Scrapped Because of Bleak Economy

Associated Press ^ | December 30, 2002 | Lukas I. Alpert

[new cruelty]

NEW YORK (AP) - A plan to build another Guggenheim Museum in the city has been scrapped because of economic constraints, the foundation in charge of the museum announced Monday. In an e-mail, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation announced that it, the city and the state's Economic Development Corp. had pulled out of the $950 million project because the economy made it "not realistic at this time."

Unveiled in April 2000, the 40- to 45-story structure on three piers would have overlooked the East River in lower Manhattan.

The design, by Frank Gehry, would have included 575,000 square feet of museum space. Most of the funding would have been raised privately.

The building, which Gehry described as "cloudlike," would have resembled the wispy, twisting titanium and glass structure he designed for the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain.

The original Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, a landmark white spiral structure designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, is one of the city's architectural gems. The Guggenheim also opened a small branch in New York's SoHo neighborhood in 1992. The museum has branches in Berlin and Venice, Italy.

The Guggenheim recently closed a branch in Las Vegas and has cut its staff and operating budget over the past year.

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On the Net:

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum: http://www.guggenheim.org

[new cruelty]

Gehry must be devastated. :)

[dennisw]

No big loss. Al Qaeda would have flown airplanes into it anyway :)

[gg188]

This is the Guggenheim in Spain.

[new cruelty]

"The building, which Gehry described as "cloudlike," would have resembled the wispy, twisting titanium and glass structure he designed for the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain."

Indeed, a miss opportunity to leave a pile of poo on another international city.

[montag813]

Another massive investment for art? While taxes are already so damn high? forget it anyway.

[new cruelty]

ah, but what then of the WTC site?

[RCW2001]

Another massive investment for art? While taxes are already so damn high? forget it anyway...

Hear, Hear!!!

[fieldmarshaldj]

That may very well be the ugliest building in humanity. Thanks heavens they won't be constructing a similar monstrosity in Manhattan...

[fieldmarshaldj]

"Bilbao"

Translated from the original Basque, meaning town that contains expensive, fugly building.

[freedumb2003]

>>That may very well be the ugliest building in humanity..<<

Yeah, right.

Try the EMP in Seattle (http://www.emplive.com/) This is only for the strong of stomach. Like that? You'll love the new Disney Hall (http://www.disneyhall.org/)

Remember, if you throw up, it is because you looked!

[lelio]

For all that I hate the style of the EMP, it does look pretty nice when you're on the monorail. Course when you're on the monorail you feel like you're in Disneyland so you let some things slide.

[GATOR NAVY]

I don't know about the building itself, but considering that the majority of the interior would probably be filled with sh*tty modern art, this is no great loss.