Does it take expensive, large and elaborate buildings to create the “Bilbao effect” (check the Glossary)? Can “temples of high culture” only catch the eye in large cities? If we assume that the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao triggers this effect – or the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, the Louis Vuitton headquarters in Paris and many more – then it would be reasonable to assume: signature buildings are the sole preserve of big cities. But in our post-industrial world, every city – regardless of its size and location – must seek to become an attractive place to live and do business, especially given the growing importance of tourism and the creative industries as economic drivers. Some places that (previously) did not feature on a typical “bucket list for city trips”, including Szczecin, Blaibach, Herford or Dundee, are gradually building a reputation. All of them invest in signature buildings. And in doing so prove that this outstanding architecture is not necessarily reserved for the “big players”.
If we stick to Dundee, a coastal town in the east of Scotland perched on the Firth of Tay. Its economy suffered from a clearly noticeable post-industrial decline. The city needed and wanted to reinvent itself – and decided to build a spectacular new museum near the estuary of the River Tay. A triumphal arch, known as the Royal Arch, stood here from 1849 to 1964, commemorating a visit by Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert in 1844. It was demolished in 1964 to make way for a not especially attractive riverside road. This was the final testimony to the golden age of industrialisation. Designed by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, a new museum of design was built in the immediate vicinity of this location in 2014 “The Victoria and Albert Design Museum is intended to epitomise Dundee’s long-awaited evolution as a city of creativity.” (Baunetz.de /
The concept has worked and continues to work, and the courage of the people in charge has been rewarded: the jaw-dropping museum structure on the Firth of Tay is a genuine signature building, blending into the newly designed riverside landscape with a large esplanade, a playground and two cafés. It has become a symbol of the new Dundee – 40 percent of museum visitors come to the city in the Scottish Lowlands just to see the architecture, despite being off the beaten track.
Aside from museums, concert halls and philharmonic halls also possess immense potential to develop an iconic character and the attendant “signature radiance”. Szczecin, for example, has experienced a spectacular rise on the “bucket list” of European cities to visit thanks to its Philharmonic Hall and its bold architecture. The eye-catching concert hall filled a gap in the cityscape and in the region’s cultural ambience and was honoured with the 2015 Mies van der Rohe Award, Europe’s most prestigious architecture prize.
Aside from these two examples, Many other projects and objects could be cited that demonstrate how a singular project can help a location to develop or even reinvent itself. If you like, you can visit the depot of the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam, take a virtual tour through the small town of Herford in East Westphalia or drop by the even smaller town of Blaibach deep in the Bavarian Forest. All of them have experienced an immense upgrade thanks to new cultural facilities and their bold decisions to create “signature buildings”.
Further reading:
Museum in Dundee:
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Philharmonic Hall in Szczecin:
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Trend terms from the WEGRAZ world: