"Being Vanguard'_1st Principle of Spacebranding

Jooyun Kim's 
Spacebranding vol.03

 "In spacebranding, 'being vanguard' is the most important principle. The easiest way to get into people's minds is to be the 'first'."


<Being Vanguard; differences between Bilbao and Los Angeles>

Focusing on "what should not be done" rather than "what should be done" is required to give vanguard differentiation."1) Here's an interesting example of why it's important to be 'vanguard' rather than something similar or to follow. One of them is 'Guggenheim Museum, 1997' in Spain and 'Walt Disney Concert Hall, 2003' in LA by American Architect, Frank Gehry. 

The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, completed in 1997, is a building that architecturally heralds the arrival of the new millennium in 2000. It is said that it economically revives the decrepit city, creating the term 'Bilbao Effect.' It is a representative example of spacebranding for urban revitalization and urban regeneration. The Guggenheim Museum, in which the 'Titanum' skins are shiny like fish scales, a huge piece of the sculpture that looks like wind blowing, are intriguing to look at from afar. King Juan Carlos of Spain praised the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao as “the greatest architecture of the 20th century”.


The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao © Jooyun Kim

Nearly 100 tourists visit a city of 400,000 people, Bilbao every year to see the 'vanguard' museum architecture from all over the world. As such, the power and influence that one 'vanguard' image of architecture gives to the city is beyond our imagination. Not only a new form of architecture, 'vanguard' in architecture means something completely different from others.


<Bilbao's Guggenheim Museum's 'vanguard' point is 'Shiny Metallic Skin'>

Why do we visit the small Italian city, Pisa? It is because to see the 'tilted' oddity. If it were a regular building, it would not have attracted so much attention. A ‘vanguard’ spacebranding is possible even with a simple perverse difference. Frank Gehry had already presented the Bilbao Guggenheim architecture's formative form. As an extension of Gehry's past architectural works, the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao could not have received so much attention from the world through the form itself. 


The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao © Jooyun Kim

However, Gehry chose 'titanium' for the surface of Guggenheim architecture. Titanium was a new material of the 21st century and it was unique material in aerospace fields. With the Guggenheim architecture using titanium, an expensive material, as a finishing material for the building, it was the first time in the world that the public could see the shiny organic architecture.

As the museum has a nickname, 'metal flower,' Guggenheim's 'vanguard' point is its 'shiny metal skin.' Depending on the direction and time you look at the museum, the intensity of the shininess and the expression of the color change in the building. Frank Gehry created the architecture with a 'vanguard' image with a single shiny skin.


The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao © Jooyun Kim


 <Walt LA Disney Concert Hall Missed the Lead>
When the Guggenheim in Bilbao got the attention all over the world, the city that was sad with surprise and lamentation was Los Angeles, USA. Because the design of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao was derived from the original design of the 'Walt Disney Concert Hall.' Here's the story. Disney's widow, Lillian Disney, decided in 1987 to donate $50 million to the city of Los Angeles to build a new concert hall as a gift to the people of Los Angeles.

Frank Gehry's design proposal was elected in 1991 through an architectural design competition for the concert hall. At that time, Gehry designed an architectural image that reflected the fact that Lillian Disney liked roses. The total cost of the concert hall's construction was over $200 million, and construction was delayed due to a lack of funding in Los Angeles County. 


Walt LA Disney Concert Hall © Jooyun Kim


At about the same time, the Guggenheim Foundation invited three teams, Arata Isozaki of Japan, Coop Himmelblau of Austria, and Frank Gehry of the United States, to the design competition in 1991 to select the design of the Guggenheim in Bilbao. In the design competition, only sketches of the museum concept were submitted within a week to determine the designer, and Frank Gehry was elected. The design concept sketch of the museum submitted by Gehry was a design image of the rose leaves of the LA concert hall where he was elected just before. 

Although both projects started at about the same time, the Guggenheim Bilbao was quickly completed in 1997 and brought to worldwide attention. Then, the city of LA and the citizens were stimulated by this situation and urged fund-raising activities and construction, and eventually, the concert hall was completed in 2004. The surface of the concert hall was originally planned for stone finishes, but Los Angeles County changed the surface of the building to metal due to budget cuts and a desire for shiny metal surfaces such as the Guggenheim Museum. 


Walt LA Disney Concert Hall © Jooyun Kim


But due to the high cost, the LA Concert Hall was finished with stainless steel plates instead of titanium. The second shiny metal architecture has been born. However, as the story shows, LA Concert Hall had a chance to become the first metal flower in the world, and it could have become a city visited by many tourists. 

Due to various circumstances, the second metal architecture LA Concert Hall is not familiar to many people. When you think of Frank Gehry, the work that comes to mind is the Bilbao Guggenheim, and when you think of shiny metal construction, it comes to the Bilbao Guggenheim.


The Light of Life Chapel © Jooyun Kim

The Light of Life Chapel © Jooyun Kim


The Light of Life Chapel is located in Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do. It is a space where 830 Russian red pine trees are in the air in the form of a dome against gravity. The designer, Hyeongcheol Shin, a professor at the French University of Architecture, says that the development of printing has made the spiritual impression of religious spaces lost. With the 'red pine tree' floating in the air, a space of overwhelming and 'vanguard' spiritual emotion has been created. 

UCCA Dune Art Museum © Qingshan Wu from Archdaily

UCCA Dune Art Museum © Qingshan Wu from Archdaily


The UCCA Dune Art Museum is located on the shores of Bohai Beach, Qinhuangdao, China. The art gallery, designed by OPEN Architecture, is as pure as the traces of children playing sand-picking. The 'primitive' form of preserving the ecosystem of dunes formed over thousands of years gives a 'leading' impression. The white interior space that spreads out from the entrance raises the expectations of the viewers. The exhibition spaces create a quiet yet powerful spatial experience with windows open to the sky and sea. 

Frank Gehry's example of metal architecture shows that occupying a "leading" and "leading" position in spacebranding is the most important principle. Jack Trout says: “Everything is a matter of communication. If there is communication, anything is possible, but if there is no communication, nothing is possible.”2) The easiest way to get into people's minds is to be 'first'.3) For spacebranding to be successful, space must have a leading position and unique taste.






 
<Summaries>

"In spacebranding, 'vanguard' is the most important principle. The easiest way to get into people's minds is to be the 'first'."

“Why do we visit the small Italian city, Pisa? It is because to see the 'tilted' oddity. A ‘vanguard’ spacebranding is possible even with a simple perverse difference.”

"The 'vanguard' point of the  Guggenheim Bilbao's 'metal flower' is the 'shininess'. A single shiny metal skin created a 'vanguard' image."

"The power and influence that one 'leading' image of architecture gives to the city is beyond our imagination. Not only a new form of architecture, 'leading' in architecture means something completely different from others."

"The Light of Life chapel in Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do, is a space where 830 Russian red pine trees hang in the air in the form of a dome against gravity. A space of overwhelming and 'vanguard' spiritual inspiration has been created with a 'levitation' against gravity."



김주연 <스페이스 브랜딩> pp.72-76
1) Jack Trout, jack trout on strategy, McGraw-Hill Education, 2004, pp. 16
2) Jack Trout, jack trout on strategy, McGraw-Hill Education, 2004, pp. 60
3) Jack Trout & Al Ries, Positioning, McGraw-Hill Education, 2001, pp. 39

Jooyun Kim

jykim@hongik.ac.kr



 

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