Bilbao...(29/10)

This is a city of angel and devil. It is dualism. It is a city of revival - at least, this is what I feel...located at the northern part of Spain, the city is the sixth largest city in Spain, and since the debut 14th century, the city developed itself into a flagship of industrial centre in Spain. In addition to its advantageous iron mining and shipbuilding industry during the industrial revolution, the prime location of the city at the estuary of the Nervion river enabled its outcast activities in logistic management, trading and trade business. The city was the wealthiest city in Spain in early 20th century going hand in hand with Barcelona and Madrid, and it was the centre of exchange with other European countries, notably UK. However, the city lost its shining magic in the post-war decades as industries were delocalised and its logistic hub influence was shared with other sea port and regions in Spain. Major factories and industrial set-ups were closed down in the 70's and 80's and the city was facing a problem of decrease of population. The city wisely commenced its urban renewal programme and revived the city into a modern centre of culture and tourism.

The Bilbao Ria 2000 ('BR2K') was established in the late 1980's. As a unique public body formed by various public companies and governmental divisions, the organisation coordinates the urban development projects as a centralised management base. I did not know exactly how this could work, but apparently it functions powerfully in aiding the regeneration projects. Perhaps a more influential participation of public bodies would offer a collective and more efficient output for construction works. Comparatively the Urban Renewal Authority (or ex-Land Development Corporation) in Hong Kong is less capable in terms of the 'collective' development. But then the nature and the mission of the two organisations are basically varied. BR2K, being a non-profit making organisation, is composed of public shareholders including the public land management corporation named SEPES, the Bilbao Port Authority, ADIF and FEVE (railway companies) together with the Basque Government, the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, the Bilbao and the Barakaldo Town Halls etc. It acquires the land in old districts from its shareholders for planned upgrade and enhancement. It bears the resources and the risk of development while it resells the plots after development to finance its work. It receives around 9% of its development funds from EU as well.

The visit to Bilbao was an interesting one. To me, Bilbao is well-known because of Athletic Bilbao, the soccer team having its long history since 1928. Indeed the team is one of the three teams (together with Real Madrid and FC Barcelona) which plays always in the first division without ever been delegated. The evidence of influences and exchanges with the British in Bilbao can be seen on the design and colour of the jersey of Athletic Club. The red and white stripes are believed to be influenced by the two south England soccer teams - Southampton and Sunderland.
The old town in Bilbao was actually renewed, but the spiralling nature of the small streets is kept in good shape. Like San Sebastian, quite some nice old style restaurants and cafe shops can be found along the streets including Somera, Artekale, Tendería and Plaza Nueva.

The major purpose of the trip to Bilbao is to visit the Museo Guggenheim Bilbao. Completed in 1997 by Frank Gehry, the building is another live demonstration of the contemporary architecture. Using titanium for the facade of the structure, the work injects a vivid nature to the waterfront in Bilbao. The exhibitions inside Guggenheim at the moment were not extremely inspiring but it was still a pleasant experience to walk around inside. The works of Frank Gehry have a denoted character of his playtime with space and cyber-touch. His Gehry Tower at Hanover and the Dancing House in Prague are both his twisted lego for space and light with the influence of Le Corbusier and Gaudi. In Paris, he has two major works namely the Cinémathèque Française and the Disneyland Resort.
Other impressive architectural works in Bilbao I came across include Joaquin Rucoba's elegant Teatro Arriaga, Severino Achucarro & Valentin Gorbena's Estacion de Santander, the Zubizuri Bridge designed by Santiago Calatrava (by the way, the official website of Calatrava is very nice, go check out on http://www.calatrava.com) and the metro station exits done by Sir Norman Foster.
Though Bilbao is regarded as the capital of Basque, I see that the city is more intergrated to the Spanish economy and development. The Basque sign with a flowery shape of five circles can be found easily in Bilbao but the basque culture and elements appear to be less significant as that in San Sebastian or in Biarritz. Hotel Artetxe is a two star hotel on the hill slope in Bilbao and it serves good dining dishes. It was memorable watching the Champions League of FC Barca vs Chelsea there.