“第五大道的異軍突起”
—— 索羅門·古根海姆博物館

特約撰稿_Anita Xu 編輯_曹爾寅 供圖_AIP藝術留學供圖

“第五大道的異軍突起”
—— 索羅門·古根海姆博物館

特約撰稿_Anita Xu 編輯_曹爾寅 供圖_AIP藝術留學供圖

《北京人在紐約》有一句話說得巧妙而隱晦：“如果你愛他，就把他送到紐約；因為那里是天堂；如果你恨他，就把他送到紐約，因為那里是地獄?！被谒囆g從業者的角度來看，紐約毋庸置疑，是一片天堂，是一汪海洋，美好得令人垂涎欲滴，但又或因它的混雜善變、深不見底而逡巡著不敢前進。就在你猶豫著該如何邁出探索紐約的第一步時，在你還被《孤獨星球》（Lonely Planet）上的一個個景點介紹搞得頭暈眼花時，遍布城市大大小小的博物館不會是錯誤的選擇。

There is a saying that goes,”Send him to New York if you love him, for it’s heaven; Send him to New York if you hate him, for it’s hell.” From the perspective of practitioners of art and design, New York is everything, especially a paradise of inspiration. However, as you feel cautious and baffled to step forward, museum visiting is undoubtedly your best bet.

古根海姆博物館和鬼才建筑師萊特

The Guggenheim Museum and Wright

紐約絕不是缺少響亮名頭的博物館的地界兒：大都會藝術博物館（Metropolitan Museum of Art），自然歷史博物館（American Museum of Natural History），現代藝術博物館（The Museum of Modern Art），惠特尼美術館（Whitney Museum of American Art）等等不勝枚舉，世界上都難找出第二座可以與它媲美的城市。就在你還埋首于旅游指南左右選擇之時，筆者推薦不妨先去邂逅了那個矗立在街角，卻又如鶴立雞群一般，極具遺世獨立之感的建筑—索羅門·R·古根海姆博物館。

相比于名聲顯赫的大都會，或自然歷史博物館這些從外表看來就好似已經承載了千百年歷史的博物館來說，古根海姆博物館放眼望去，更像一朵白色的荷花，低調卻又散發著難以遮掩的光芒。

由索羅門·R·古根海姆所奠基的古根海姆博物館分別落戶于紐約，柏林，畢爾巴鄂（Bilbao, Spain），威尼斯和拉斯維加斯。而紐約作為總部，自然要擔負得起這個名頭。支撐起它的，不僅僅是館內印象派藝術、當代藝術、抽象藝術的豐富收藏，還有這個出自美國建筑鬼才弗蘭克·勞埃德·賴特鬼斧神工之手的大樓。

比起我眼中白色的荷花，更多的人將這棟已成為紐約地標建筑的樓宇比作茶杯，彈簧，或是海螺。一個僅用了白色混凝土裝飾外觀的建筑，卻賦予了人們如此寬廣的想象，足可見賴特在看似簡樸的建筑設計中，所灌注的深度和廣度。

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum located at 1071 Fifth Avenue on the corner of East 89th Street in the Upper East Side neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It is the permanent home of a renowned and continuously expanding collection of Impressionism, Postimpressionism, early Modern and contemporary art and also features special exhibitions throughout the year. The museum's collection has grown organically, over eight decades, and is founded upon several important private collections, beginning with Solomon R. Guggenheim's original collection. The collection is shared with the museum's sister museums in Bilbao, Venice, Berlin, and Las Vegas.

追溯至賴特所處的19世紀末20世紀初，美國資本主義工業急速發展。城市化加劇，人口密度猛增，過多不合理的街道被開辟出來，高樓平地而起。而賴特對于摩天大樓的建造一直都不感興趣甚至是嗤之以鼻。幼年的成長環境注定了他對于城市過度集中的反感。翻看賴特的履歷，他的作品多是民用住宅、平矮但卻舒展的別墅建筑。“大草原”（Prairie Houses）和“美國風”（Usonian Houses）以及“有機建筑”（Organic Architecture）的誕生，更是深刻闡述了賴特在建筑設計中對于“自然”和“自由”的追求。

或許你會心生疑惑，這些建筑風格，根本就和紐約這個風情萬種又魚龍混雜的大都會背道而馳。放大谷歌的衛星地圖，你會看到古根海姆博物館被密密麻麻的灰褐色磚瓦樓夾在了街角，與眾不同中夾帶了些許落寞。縱然賴特對于“自然”秉持著一貫的追求，對博物館選址紐約有著千般萬般的不情愿，但也不能違背客戶的意愿。唯一的慰藉也只能是博物館街對面的中央公園了，即便那只是一個人造公 園。

Frank Lloyd Wright was born on June 8, 1867, in Richland Center, Wisconsin. After college, he became chief assistant to architect Louis Sullivan. Wright then founded his own firm and developed a style known as the Prairie school, which strove for an "organic architecture" in designs for homes and commercial buildings. Over his career he created numerous iconic buildings.

Wr ight m a d e n o s e c ret of his disenchantment with Guggenheim's choice of New York for his museum∶ "I can think of several more desirable places in the world to build his great museum," Wright wrote in 1949 to Arthur Holden, "but we will have to try New York." To Wright, the city was overbuilt, overpopulated, and lacked architectural merit. Still, he proceeded with his client's wishes, considering locations on 36th Street, 54th Street, and Park Avenue (all in Manhattan), as well as in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, before settling on the present site on Fifth Avenue between 88th and 89th Streets. Its proximity to Central Park was key; as close to nature as one gets in New York, the park afforded relief from the noise and congestion of the city.

博物館內部設計

Interior Design

古根海姆博物館被人們描述成“海螺”并不是沒有理由的。樓體外部看起來像被一條盤旋上升的白色綢帶環繞著，內部結構則呈現出螺旋線的樣式，像一枚貝殼上彎曲的、毫不扭捏造作的花紋。

在我看來，賴特十分理解身處紐約的人們對“自由”的渴望。相比賴特的故鄉的人，紐約的“城里人”好像被困住了。人們在紐約，以為自己看到了整個世界，但轉身面對的卻是四面方方正正的墻，和一張可能會有蟲子的床。賴特在古根海姆這座美術館里，給了人們跳出去的希望。走進博物館的底層，你可以沿著蜿蜒的展廳走廊向上盤旋行進。所有的展品都沿廊而置，你完全不必擔心錯過了什么大師的作品，只需要跟隨著螺旋結構的廊道緩緩上升和旋轉。在不清楚到底轉了幾圈走到盡處的時候，你還以為展覽就此謝幕，不巧你卻抬頭發現，玻璃穹頂連接至天際，鑲嵌著漫無盡頭的宇宙。這興許正是賴特想留給參觀者們的最后一幅作品，這副作品表達著他對自由、對遠方、對廣袤原野的向往和追求，即便這里是紐 約。

在古根海姆博物館這棟建筑令人心馳神往的諸多因素中，其對于藝術展品的陳列方式便是其中之一。如前文中提到的，有別于那些直走幾步就會撞南墻回頭的陳列室，古根海姆博物館的展品沿著廊道陳列，給人一種將這棟建物和它所容納的展品完美融合在一起的舒暢之感，完全顛覆了傳統博物館內一個個小隔間的展出形式。在古根海姆，你可以先乘電梯直達頂層，再沿著傾斜的坡道回到底層?；蛘呤窍裎覀円话愣紩龅哪菢?，從一層不疾不徐地前行，直至六層。

Nature not only provided the museum with a respite from New York's distractions but also leant it inspiration. The Guggenheim Museum is an embodiment of Wright's attempts to render the inherent plasticity of organic forms in architecture. His inverted ziggurat (a stepped or winding pyramidal temple of Babylonian origin) dispensed with the conventional approach to museum design, which led visitors through a series of interconnected rooms and forced them to retrace their steps when exiting. Instead, Wright whisked people to the top of the building via elevator, and led them downward at a leisurely pace on the gentle slope of a continuous ramp. The galleries were divided like the membranes in citrus fruit, with self-contained yet interdependent sections. The open rotunda afforded viewers the unique possibility of seeing several bays of work on different levels simultaneously. The spiral design recalled a nautilus shell, with continuous spaces flowing freely one into another.

精神的圣殿

A Temple of Spirit

1943年，賴特接到了古根海姆博物館的所有者—礦業大亨索羅門·R·古根海姆以及他的顧問希拉·貝蕾的盛情邀請，為古根海姆博物館設計新館。它的舊址，位于54街的“非物體繪畫博物館”(Non-Objective Art)已經負荷不了古根海姆愈來愈豐富，尤其是對于抽象派作品的收藏了。古根海姆將新館的設計理念定義為“一個精神的圣殿”（A Temple of Spirit），而不簡簡單單的是儲藏和展覽藝術品的盒子。在他的眼里，賴特是唯一一位能夠讓這個理念付諸實踐的建筑師人選。最終，博物館的建筑設計所達到的高度，甚至超越了館內藏品，而這也成博物館被那些躁動不安的批評家們詬病的原因之一。

盡管賴特對紐約的選址有諸多不滿，他終拗不過客戶的“旨意”，不過他還是通過與之相鄰的中央公園，找到了這棟建筑通向自然的一把鑰匙。在萊特完成700多張草圖和6套工作圖紙后，古根海姆博物館在1956年迎來了破土動工的日子。遺憾的是，3年后的1959年10月，當人們在第五大道排列起隊伍，等待進入這座充滿超前意識的，與周遭一切都格格不入的建筑物時，賴特已辭世多月，沒能看到自己嘔心瀝血培養出來的“孩子”出生的這一刻。

When Solomon Guggenheim, the heir to a mining fortune, and his art adviser, Hilla Rebay, decided to construct a museum for abstract painting (which they called "non-objective art"), Wright was a natural choice as architect. In Rebay's words, the two were seeking "a temple of spirit, a monument" and Wright, through his long career, was a builder of temples and monuments.

The project evolved into a complex struggle pitting the architect against his clients, city officials, the art world, and public opinion. Both Guggenheim andWright died before the building's 1959 completion. The resultant achievement, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, testifies not only to Wright's architectural genius, but to the adventurous spirit that characterized its founders.

古根海姆博物館的外觀曾被那個相對古板的年代所排斥，古根海姆博物館連鎖式的運營方式更是被譏諷為藝術博物館界的“麥當勞”。然而半個多世紀后的今天，事實給了那些譏笑者一記耳光。紐約的古根海姆成為了地標性建筑，周末慕名前來駐足博物館門前的長龍足以證明這座建筑的偉大。今天，古根海姆博物館也依舊在全球不斷地摸索著下一個扎根落腳的營 地。

Solomon R. Guggen heim Museum was once rejected by its rigid comtemporaries for its appearace, and it was even mocked as the Mcdonald in the world of museums because of its chain operation. However, after half a century, facts now speak louder than words. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum has become the landmark building of New York. The crowds of people waiting in front of the musuem every weekend can be a firm confirmation of its greatness. These days, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is still exploring in every piece of land around the world in order to find the next territory where it can settle down.

背景詞匯

Background Vocabulary

American Museum of Natural History 美國自然歷史博物館?！恫┪镳^奇妙夜》的拍攝地。在第五大道與大都會藝術博物館遙遙相望。

Metropolitan Museum of Art 大都會藝術博物館。美國最大的藝術博物 館。

Non-Objective Art“非物體繪畫”。古根海姆博物館的前身“非物體繪畫”博物館。被稱作“非物體繪畫”，實則類似于抽象繪畫。

Organic Architecture “有機”建筑?，F代建筑的一個派別，代表人物為賴特。

disenchantment n.醒悟；覺醒；不抱有幻想

dispensed v.&adj.分發，執行，處置；分發的，分配的

embodiment n.體現；使具體化

make no secret對…毫不掩飾

nautilus shell鸚鵡螺貝殼

overbuild v. 過多地建造

overpopulate v.&adj.使人口過密；人口過多的。

plasticity n.可塑性；適應性

relief n. 減輕；救濟；安慰

renowned adj.著名的

respite n.緩解，暫時的休息

rotunda n. 圓形大廳

self-contained adj. 獨立的，自給自足的

slope (ramp) n. 斜坡、坡道

strive for為…而奮斗

Prairie Houses “大草原”住宅。由賴特提出并創造。強調建筑與周圍自然環境的融合。這類住宅大多位于郊外的草原上。
The Museum of Modern Art 簡稱MOMA。現代藝術博物館。
Usonian Houses “美國風”建筑。賴特在20世紀30年代美國遭遇經濟大蕭條時期所提出的住宅風格。該風格的建筑只使用磚頭，木頭，水泥，玻璃和紙這5種材料。強調建筑的簡潔，經濟實用并同樣與自然環境相結合。

詞匯

Words and expressions

painting抽象畫