comparison of the Met and Guggenheim

New York City has been called “the greatest city in the world” numerous times by its own people and visitors to the city. New York is civilization’s greatest world within a city. It gives the overpowering impression of being a magnet and mirror for all of humanity and all that humanity does. For a city so young, New York is home to number of architectural classics. Two of these masterpieces of architecture are the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Guggenheim Museum. Both continue the metaphor of New York being a world within a world and possess the latent fusion of form and function, one dependent on the other. The Metropolitan Museum is the epitome of neo-Classical style while the Guggenheim is a modernist powerhouse. Each museum serves the same purpose: displaying humanity’s greatest achievements. By comparing and contrasting their history, location, façade and interior, I will investigate how they arrive at this goal in contrasting styles

Location of a building is significant, often giving an insight into the edifice’s function. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is located on Fifth Avenue between 88th and 89th streets (picture1). It was commissioned by Solomon Guggenheim in 1943. Guggenheim chose Frank Lloyd Wright to design a new building to house Guggenheim’s four-year-old Museum of non objective painting. Wright was reluctant on New York being chosen as the city to house the museum but he finally decided on its current location. Its proximity to Central Park was a vital factor in his decision – the park offers a respite to the hustle and bustle of the city and gets as close to nature as possible in the City (picture 2). Like Robie House and Falling Water, the museum is a product of its environment and finds its inspiration from nature. As is stated on the official website, the Guggenheim Museum is an “embodiment of Wright’s attempts to render the inherent plasticity of organic forms in architecture.” People visit the museum as much for its architecture as its art; it is an icon of modern architecture and designed specifically to showcase and complement modern art.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded in 1870 by wealthy American businessmen and artists of the time with the sole purpose to create a museum bringing art and education from around the world to the citizens of America. The original central pavilion was d...

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... the second floor. Surrounding this staircase is a set of parallel columns (picture 21). Just above the start of the staircase is a grand statue of Perseus with the Head of Medusa. Unlike the Guggenheim museum, the Met offers a more conventional method to view art. The art-goer walks through a number of interlocking rooms with paintings on the sides and sculptures generally in the central area of the rooms. There is an impression of class, symmetry and grandeur given by the Great Hall, viewing rooms and the architecture of the Met.

The Guggenheim Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of New York are both masterpieces of architecture that communicate their form and function in contrasting styles. The Met gives the viewer a sense of grandeur and hails back to classical styles and forms while the Guggenheim Museum intrigues and appeals to the aesthetic side of the viewer. Both Museum’s are products of their environment and accomplish the aesthetic effect that the art works inside them possess. If the Met is considered graceful, the Guggenheim can be characterized as simply beautiful. Both are priceless elements of the New York City architectural landscape.