Bilbao is the capital of the province of Bizkaia in the Basque Country. The city is located on the Nervión River, which flows into the Ría de Bilbao. We were lucky with the weather and were able to photograph the most beautiful reflections of buildings and bridges in the calm waters of the Nervión when there was no wind.
And so, via the Puente La Salve, we finally got closer to Bilbao's main attraction, the Guggenheim Museum of Contemporary Art.
The oval-shaped building is located in downtown Bilbao on the banks of the Nervión River. The architect Frank O. Gehry planned generously with the material titanium. 60 tons were used until the building was completed in 1997 in the deconstructivist style. In 2001 it received the “Outstanding Structure Award” from the IABSE.
We particularly liked the current exhibition of the huge steel constructions by the artist Richard Serra. This also reminded us of the work of art "Terminal" at the main train station in Bochum, our home town, which we have known since the 1970s.
A more spectacular object in the museum's outdoor area is "Maman", the giant spider by French artist Louise Bourgeois. The sculpture of the crawling animal is around nine meters high and is made of stainless steel. In her "pouch" are twenty-six marble eggs.
