Reimagining The Classics

Redesigning Guggenheim Museum, New York City: Prof. Percy Pithawala and his team bag the top honor at international ideas competition to redesign Guggenheim museum in New York City.

- Sharmila Chakravorty

Conceptual designs are often dismissed as vague notions disguised as potent ideas, for they have the freedom to disregard the rules and limitation of the real world. And yet, they are instrumental for instilling creativity, ingenuity, and clarity of thought that in turn shape an architect’s ability to translate ideas into tangible structures. Against this backdrop, presentd are two award-winning competition entries, reimagining the Guggenheim museum in New York – one as a trench-like cavity going deep in the earth, and another, as a futuristic tower touching the sky.

In some way or the other, we are all armchair philosophers. And how can we not be? The internet has connected us in ways that didn’t exist before, thereby giving us a platform where everyone can voice their opinion on almost everything. And it’s not necessarily a bad thing; of course there is negativity in most opinion expressed online, but if we were to focus on the sheer volume of feedback and apply it constructively, imagine the outcome! The principle applies to architecture too. We have opened up avenues for people from all walks of life to view and analyze projects, and pass their subjective judgements. Again, it’s not necessarily a bad thing. What if we could reimagine built works with a fresher perspective, with a renewed mindset? Would the outcome be better, or worse? Are we challenging the work of masters? In fact, are the masters up for having their works critiqued? What if all this was done with a positive, learning objective? Perhaps that is where competitions aiming to reimagine great works of great masters shine.