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As we've mentioned, the Guggenheim is being renovated -- but what's currently going on under all that scaffolding? Now that the museum has been stripped of its paint, it's time to choose order the paint cans. Unfortunately, the Guggenheim isn't sure what color to paint the exterior, because architect Frank Lloyd Wright actually chose a different shade of color for the building - a color that was painted over five years after the museum opened in 1959.
Newsday explains that the colors at the center of the discussion are Powell Buff (near right), the color Wright liked, and London Fog (far right), the color the museum has had for years. Wright never liked the color white, so some feel that Wright's original wishes should be respected. However, one counter-argument (from the Guggenheim) is that the museum as a whole with its various additions "is more than the iconic circular structure designed by Wright." Maybe, maybe not - can anyone recall the other additions as well as Wright's building?
The city's Landmarks Preservation Commission, which must approve changes to the museum's exterior, has been visiting the museum "at different times of the day to compare the swatches." Might we suggest this shade - New York? Then again, Frank Lloyd Wright hated New York; he once said about the location of NYC for the Guggenheim, "I can think of several more desirable places in the world to build his great museum, but we will have to try New York." And he also said, "It [New York City] is a great monument to the power of money and greed. ..a race for rent."
Wright designed one home in New York City, Crimson Beech, amidst the leafiness of Staten Island. And did you know there's a Frank Lloyd Wright home in Wisconsin available as a vacation rental?
Photograph by dietrich on Flickr
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I watched a documentary about Hilda Rebay, who recruited Wright. If I remember correctly, he wanted the museum to be RED, but Rebay thought red was too much. Perhaps Wright's red should be reconsidered.. .
Anything to make that building look better.
I like Wright, but I don't like the Guggenheim.
There's a Guggenheim in Second Life that looks much better.
The beige color is very Wright. The dove grey reeks of pottery barn banality. And yes, he did want to paint it red originally. see this link for a more detailed discussion....
http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?p=185869
I agree, "Powell Buff" is much better than that grey. For some reason, I always found it so sterile and depressing. The design is so alien in some ways it needs something to say: "There is life and art in here. Not just a geometry exercise."
I'm voting for London Fog.
red?! wow, that would be so strange, i think it would work.
powell buff & london fog are so incredibly boring.
If it has to be beige, it should at least be definitive. "Powell Buff" is the much warmer and bolder of the two, so that'd be my vote.
Thanks, JGNY, for the link. Also, I just realized by the Guggenheim wants the museum to remain London Fog - if it's another color, it won't match all the books, notecards, reports, etc produced!
My vote is for Powell buff though I'd like it to be even more orangy than it is to really make the building pop. Red is too much I think because we are talking about a building whose architecture is more on display not Wrights generally poor taste in colors.
Powell Buff would be perfect. It will get grey from all the pollution anyway.
I vote for red!