-By David Martin, FAIA

During his 20-year tenure as director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, Thomas Krens emerged as a provocative patron of architecture, responsible for developing an international network of Guggenheim Museum sites, from Las Vegas to Spain, including the famous structure in Bilbao designed by Frank Gehry. Krens announced his resignation from his post on February 27, 2008, but plans to remain at the Foundation as a senior adviser for international affairs, overseeing the creation of a 452,000-sq.-ft. museum in Abu Dhabi, also being designed by Frank Gehry.

David Martin, FAIA, design principal at Los Angeles-based AC Martin Partners spoke with Krens on behalf of Contract about his reputation for risk-taking and what the design profession can learn from it.

DM: The Guggenheim and particularly Bilbao are so successful. In a world rife with risk, what can you tell us about your ingredients for success?

TK: It's a hard question, because it presumes [that the client] has a certain level of success. You have to step back and break it down into parts. The Guggenheim has been successful as a brand for several reasons: It had an existing brand, then being in New York City helps, and Frank Lloyd Wright's building also contributes. The Guggenheim Bilbao follows that tradition only with a more heroic scale appropriate to the world of 2000. Gehry's architecture is consistent with our Manhattan flagship in that both are appropriate to their locale, both have practically no straight lines, and both introduce a level of surprise that engages curiosity. The programming at both places is aggressive, comprehensive, and surprising; they are erudite and readable at the same time. We design for both buildings, what brings out the best in each circumstance. The complexity that is behind this is what defines the consistency of the institution. We find the best talent at programming, for the curators, and for research. This is also true with artists and architects. The search for creativity at the highest level reinforces our brand recognition and global aspirations. While 92 percent of our program is based on 19th- and 20th-century contemporary art, we occasionally venture slightly from this; for example, what object better captures the industrial age than the motorcycle?

DM: The Gehry motorcycle show at the Koolhaas-designed Guggenheim in Las Vegas was sensational. Can you compare the show in New York and Las Vegas?

TK: The Las Vegas exhibition was a box display. In New York, the walls were all lined in stainless steel…. The idea was to make you feel almost as though you were inside an engine. We treated motorcycles as sculptures, and placing them on pedestals with mirrors underneath allowed visitors to appreciate their mechanicals. This display method had an aspect with the lighting that was also reflected on the walls. It was Marcel Duchamp gone crazy.

DM: Speaking of risk, can you comment on the seven years that the Guggenheim was in Las Vegas?

TK: Las Vegas as a city doesn't give you a lot of time to resolve differences. Some 40 million people go to Las Vegas each year, and the competition for their time is tremendous. Actually, the smaller gallery space was quite successful for seven years. (And we made money!) I once speculated that if we had put prices on the art we would have had bigger audiences.

DM: Considering New York and Bilbao, what do you think about continuing to create these icons? Is there a saturation point for iconic architecture?

TK: It is always hard to top the last paradigm. However, everything in front of us now in 10 years will look antiquated. When we started in a brownstone in 1870, the founders hardly expected the museum to achieve the huge facility and status it has now. You can see things at Bilbao that wouldn't be possible anywhere else. Who has the ability to go beyond Bilbao right now? That would be Abu Dhabi. They are in the process of building an island of museums that we will be a part of. This will make Bilbao seem modest by comparison. And there will be other museums by Jean Nouvel, Zaha Hadid, and others—all in an extraordinary setting, a true cultural destination. Whether these will be anything more than a cultural theme park remains to be seen, and it surely raises the issue of authenticity. Abu Dhabi is trying to establish itself as fundamentally different and has the money to do so.

DM: You've dealt with all kinds of "personalities." Any wisdom on getting along with the creative artist, as well as trustees?

TK: My world is filled with "high achievers," but at the end of the day, high achievers are human—people who can take advantage of any opportunity presented to them. They are people who must establish an identity, have an ego, be committed and tough—intersecting with the curve at the right time, the right elements, and involving a bit of serendipity. The Guggenheim institution puts me in touch with these kinds of people. It is not my doing alone. What amazes me is the ability of artists and architects to lead. They have to deal with extraordinary amounts of client interfaces and public relations; then they go back to an organization of sometimes two or three hundred people to deliver extraordinary work.