Computers, cladding, and curves: The techno-morphism of Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain

Frank Gehry introduced a new era in architecture with the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. Noteworthy at the Guggenheim is its design and building processes which mark a paradigm shift in architectural historiography and pedagogy. The museum comprises three significant over-arching ideas: Gehry's unprecedented use of e-technology to design and build, his extensive and innovative use of architectural language, including Jacques Derrida's "deconstruction," and his sensitive awareness of cultural memory and history. Furthermore, the design and construction of the Guggenheim Museum have created a ripple effect throughout the architectural world, altering pedagogical models and introducing new styles.; The design and construction of the Guggenheim Museum, effectively mirrored society's transformation from industrial to post-industrial. Therefore, this museum serves as a model of society's change to an incorporation of e-technology, while representing a historical architectural shift from industrial construction to technological construction. As a result of the immense transpositions and transformations Gehry created in architecture, a new discourse has been opened among architects and critics alike. Now termed "The Bilbao Effect," this new dialogue challenges ideas of architecture as economic tool used for urban revitalization. Furthermore, "The Bilbao Effect" incorporates issues of signature designs and a new "mechanization" of architectural design. This dissertation briefly outlines the beginning dialogue of "he Bilbao effect."; Furthermore, I demonstrate that the Guggenheim Bilbao is a new style---Techno-Morphism---a term I have coined. Since the museum is both formed and informed by e-technology, technomorphism is also a process. This process is due to Gehry's employment of CATIA, a multi-faceted aeronautic software which includes CAD (Computer Aided Drafting), CAM (Computer Aided Manufacturing), and CAE (Computer Aided Engineering) capabilities. This highly sophisticated software streamlined the processes Gehry needed to produce more "artistic" buildings, while being cost effective. I have also demonstrated that Gehry's use of CATIA for design and construction finalized the mechanized industrial age, prevalent in the mid-nineteenth and twentieth centuries.