"This is the liberation of painting by architecture", said Frank Lloyd Wright of his revolutionary concept of the Guggenheim Museum.
The creative spirit which pervades this uniquely beautiful building may be sensed only by actual, and repeated, visits: the living experience which is the essence of great architecture. Although no pictorial study, however faithful or detailed, can parallel such an experience, this book was designed as a photographic tour of the Guggenheim Museum in order to provide some sense of the character of the structure, of the means by which the master architect gave concrete reality to his daring vision.
The book opens with an introduction by Harry F. Guggenheim, president of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, telling the story of the genesis of the building. The section that follows consists of several extensive statements by Frank Lloyd Wright on his original concept of the Museum as it developed through the years.
After the architect's drawing of the building and photographs of the construction, the reader then sees the exterior of the completed Museum as it is approached from the north and is shown completely around the building from several views. Returning to the wide entrance, the camera proceeds through it into the main gallery, moves up the ramp's first rise, enters the grand gallery.