Travel Trends: Architourism

Posted by Barbara Rogers Feb 20, 2007

Architourism – both the term and its existence – is a 21st-century phenomenon. When the Columbia University Conference on Architecture as a Destination for Tourism convened in 2002, the tourism community was still reeling – and puzzling – over what it called “The Bilbao Effect.”

When Frank Gehry’s bold and brilliant new Guggenheim Museum appeared along the riverbank of a previously ignored and down-at-the-heels provincial city in northern Spain, it took the world by surprise. Instead of a curiosity, it became an overnight tourist attraction, and it made Bilbao a destination.

People traveled to this remote coast of northern Spain just to see it, cruise ships added it to their itineraries and modern architecture was suddenly on the map. Before that the only structures that were considered attractions in their own right were those built before the 20th century, and tended to be important for their age (as the Parthenon and Coliseum), their interior decoration (The Alhambra or Sistine Chapel) or for historic events, not for their architecture. With only a few exceptions (Gaudi’s Art Nouveau works in Barcelona being the rare one), architecture, especially contemporary, was considered just the box that held the treasures.

But now entire tours are based on 20th-21st-century architecture, and travelers are rushing to see works by Frank Gehry, Renzo Piano, Gio Ponti, Guiseppe Terragni and Aldo Rossi, along with the Art Nouveau works of Antoni Gaudi and others.

Look for these in Southern Europe:

• Guggenheim Museum – Bilbao, Spain, by Frank Gehry, 1997
• Marques de Riscal Winery -- Elciego, Spain (Rioja region), by Frank Gehry, in progress
• Carlo Felice Theater -- Genoa, Italy, rebuilt by Aldo Rossi, 1990
• Oriente Station -- Lisbon, Portugal, by Santiago Calatrava, 1998
• City of Arts and Sciences Museum and Planetarium Complex -- Valencia, Spain, by Santiago Calatrava, 2007
• Casa Mila -- Barcelona, Spain, by Antoni Gaudi, 1910
• Sagrada Familia -- Barcelona, Spain, by Antoni Gaudi, 1926
• Casa del Fascio – Como, Italy, by Guiseppe Terragni, 1932
• Novocomum Apartments -- Como, Italy, by Guiseppe Terragni, 1928
• Lingotto Building –Turin, Italy, renovated by Renzo Piano, 1994
• Taro de Tahiche, Lanzarote (Canary islands), Caesar Manrique, 1968