Editing Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (section)

==== Site selection and announcement of plans ====
Wright expected that the museum would be in [[lower Manhattan]].<ref name=McCarter308>{{harvnb|McCarter|1997|p=308|ps=.}}</ref> Instead, in March 1944, Rebay and Guggenheim acquired a site on Manhattan's [[Upper East Side]], at the corner of [[89th Street (Manhattan)|89th Street]] and the [[Museum Mile, New York|Museum Mile]] section of [[Fifth Avenue]], overlooking [[Central Park]].<ref name=Stern809/><ref>{{Cite news |date=March 21, 1944 |title=Ultra-Modern Museum to Rise in 5th Ave. To House Non-Objective Art Collection |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1944/03/21/archives/ultramodern-museum-to-rise-in-5th-ave-to-house-nonobjective-art.html |access-date=October 3, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name=NPS19>{{harvnb|National Park Service|2005|ps=.|p=19}}</ref> They considered numerous locations in Manhattan, as well as the [[Riverdale, Bronx|Riverdale]] section of the Bronx, overlooking the [[Hudson River]].<ref name=Stern809/><ref name=Ballon>{{harvnb|Ballon|2009|pp=22–27}}</ref> Guggenheim felt that the Fifth Avenue site's proximity to Central Park was important, as the park afforded relief from the noise, congestion and concrete of the city.<ref name=Storrer401>{{harvnb|Storrer|2002|pp=400–01}}</ref> Wright's preliminary sketches fit the site nearly perfectly, although the site was about {{convert|25|ft}} narrower than what Wright anticipated.<ref>{{harvnb|Pfeiffer|1995|ps=.|pp=11, 21}}</ref> Guggenheim approved Wright's sketches in mid-1944.<ref name=Stern809/> Wright called the planned building an "Archeseum ... a building in which to see the highest".<ref name=NPS19/><ref name=NYCL8>{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1990|ps=.|p=8}}</ref>

Wright's designs were announced in July 1945,<ref name=NPS19/> and the museum was expected to cost $1 million and be completed within a year.<ref name="nyt-1945-07-10">{{Cite news |date=July 10, 1945 |title=Museum Building to Rise as Spiral; New Guggenheim Structure Designed by F.L. Wright Is Called First of Kind |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1945/07/10/archives/museum-building-to-rise-as-spiral-new-guggenheim-structure-designed.html |access-date=October 3, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The structure's main feature was a main gallery with a helical ramp, surrounding a [[lightwell]] with a skylight.<ref name="nyt-1945-07-10" /><ref>{{cite news |date=July 10, 1945 |title=Wright Designs Bizarre 5th Av. Art Museum: His First Building in City, on Novel Lines, to House Guggenheim Collection |page=7 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1337120835}}}}</ref> Guests would board an elevator to reach the top; a second, steeper ramp would serve as an emergency exit.<ref name=Stern809/> There would be a movie theater in the basement, an elevator tower topped by an observatory, and a smaller building featuring a smaller theater,<ref name=Pfeiffer21>{{harvnb|Pfeiffer|1995|ps=.|p=21}}</ref> in addition to storage space, a library and a cafe.<ref name="nyt-1945-07-10" /><ref name=NYCLint8>{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission Interior|1990|ps=.|p=8}}</ref> Preliminary plans also included apartments for Guggenheim and Rebay, but these plans were scrapped.<ref name=Pfeiffer21/> Guggenheim acquired an additional parcel of land on 88th Street that July.<ref name=Stern811>{{harvnb|Stern|Mellins|Fishman|1995|ps=.|p=811}}</ref> Wright built a model of the museum at [[Taliesin (studio)|Taliesin]], his home in Wisconsin,<ref>{{harvnb|Pfeiffer|1995|ps=.|pp=21, 25}}</ref> and displayed it at the Plaza Hotel that September.<ref>{{cite news |date=September 21, 1945 |title=Frank Lloyd Wright Shows Plan Of a Fifth Avenue Art Museum |page=34 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1287100423}}}}</ref><ref name="nyt-1945-09-21">{{Cite news |date=September 21, 1945 |title=Model is Unveiled of New Museum Here; Spiral-shaped Art Center Proposed for the City |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1945/09/21/archives/model-is-unveiled-of-new-museum-here-spiralshaped-art-center.html |access-date=October 3, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>