Before being constructed a group of 21 leading artists petitioned the city of New York — expressing concern that they wouldn’t be able to display their work in a level setting. While the paintings are level, the visitors are not. For the 2 hours visitors spend exploring the main exhibit they are standing on a slope — craning their neck to level their head with the art they’re looking at. You’ll notice that visitors don’t often linger long in front of one painting, the slope forces them to keep moving. And by the time most people leave you can see a sense of visible discomfort in their eyes.
But yet, more than 1 million people happily pay $25 to visit the museum every year.
Why?
The Guggenheim Effect:
People will overlook or ignore obvious flaws in the face of fame and beauty.
The Guggenheim is a terrible museum, but it is an architectural landmark that encapsulates the height of the organic architecture movement. As many tourists go to the museum each year for its exhibitions as they do for its architecture.
When Frank Lloyd Wright designed the building he created a museum unlike any in the world — to this day its something that people talk about.