Журнал DETAIL 9.2022 Concept: Cultural Buildings

Culture and City Marketing

In 1997, the Guggenheim Museum opened in Bilbao, and Frank Gehry’s eccentric new building transformed the Basque city into an overnight hotspot for international tourism. Many places and cultural institutions have since emulated this model. The so-called Bilbao effect became a recipe for city marketing success, and starchitect Frank Gehry its guarantor.

In this concept issue of Detail, we bring you theatre and museum buildings that do not rely on the Bilbao effect but derive the significance of their architecture from their context. Large and small, these structures in Tyrol, Schleswig- Hollstein, Geneva, and Aragon integrate well with their urban environment or natural landscape, becoming a part of it. Our process documentations take a deep dive into the extension of Kunsthaus Zurich by Chipperfield Architects Berlin and the Volkstheater in Munich by LRO Lederer Ragnarsdóttir Oei.