Move over, Mr Getty - Page 2

I really don't know the economics, but it was commissioned/built post-Guggenheim Bilbao/Getty, right on the crest of that wave, and so increased revenue may helped have offset the cost. Before the Pavilion, the MAM wasn't really talked about much; after, it was in all the press for awhile.

As I said, I haven't seen the Soumaya in person, so it's hard to have a real opinion, but I remain of the opinion that it just doesn't look good. People hate Brasilia, but that complex actually has some impressive buildings and serves its program well. I find Brasilia much more convincing than the Soumaya and am now sorry I made the comparison.

I think the GMNYC is on a different level entirely; a true masterpiece. The Gwathmey-Siegel addition makes it even stronger, in a way.

Which Libeskind do you mean? The "paper" Libeskind? Some interesting stuff, but lost in a lot of rhetoric.
The "built" Libeskind? I think he's very uneven (mainly un) in built works. The Jewish Museum in Berlin is a great building (his first built, I think his best); the Denver Art Museum is OK; some smaller projects are interesting; the urban stuff is...just bad.
The "Freedom Tower" Libeskind? Bad idea to begin with, but really that was just 'Danny give us a cool image and then step out of the damned way while a bunch of NYC hood architects kick your ass'...one can't really blame him for that fiasco.

Libeskind is not in my top 50 (or 100 even) favorite architects, but I'll take at least several of his works over the Soumaya. Interesting comparison you make, though: many of Libeskind's buildings and the Soumaya are essentially rhetorical, unresolved, failed gestures, imo. As such, maybe the Soumaya will be Mexico City's Wexner Center.... both .

Don't get me started on the abomination that is freedom tower.

I've been to the Jewish Museum in Berlin and thought it was awful. I haven't seen any of his other works in person but all the photos look awful. A better comparison for the Soumaya would be Gehry's Disney Concert Hall and Guggenheim Bilbao. I like both of those though most of Gehry's other works are worse.

I thought the Jewish Museum was very powerful. I liked it quite a bit.

I don't see the connection to anything Gehry has done, really.


Perhaps to this (Selfridges Building; Birmingham, England; Future Systems Architects).

That looks pretty cool to me.