Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is a mass of swirling, titanium-clad curves that catch the light along the Nervion River. Architect Frank Gehry designed these metallic shapes to look like a metallic flower, or perhaps a ship, depending on the angle of the sun. Before this building arrived in nineteen ninety-seven, the area was a decaying industrial shipyard. Local officials hoped a bold museum would revive the city, and the structure immediately drew millions of visitors to a quiet corner of northern Spain.