During a period of city-wide regeneration in Bilbao in the late 1980s, the idea for the museum came about through a collaboration between Basque authorities and the Solomon R Guggenheim Foundation. US/Canadian architect Frank Gehry won the design commission and the museum opened its doors in October 1997. The impressive building stands on the edge of the Nervión River in the old industrial heart of of the city, its glass and limestone structure clad in waves of titanium. It was an immediate sensation; among its fans, the architect Philip Johnson hailed it “the greatest building of our time”. (Credit: Art Kowalsky / Alamy Stock Photo)