Editing Guggenheim Museum Bilbao (section)

=== Cladding ===
[[File:Interior of Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.jpg|thumb|upright|Interior of the [[Atrium (architecture)|atrium]]]]
The base of the building is covered with beige limestone from the [[Huéscar]] quarries near [[Granada]],<ref name="auto">{{Cite web |title=✅ Guggenheim Bilbao – Données, Photos et Plans |url=https://fr.wikiarquitectura.com/bâtiment/guggenheim-bilbao/ |access-date=5 November 2019 |website=WikiArquitectura}}</ref> cut from {{convert|50|mm|abbr=on}} thick slabs. The building is clear thanks to the walls, specially treated to protect the interior from the effects of the sun. The glass of the windows has also been treated to prevent light from damaging the exposed pieces.

It is clad in [[titanium]] plates, arranged in scales, on a [[Hot-dip galvanization|galvanized steel]] structure. The museum's exterior skin is made of 33,000<ref name="auto"/> titanium plates, a material that has been used to replace [[copper]] or [[lead]] because of their toxicity.<ref name="auto"/> Many tests have been carried out with different materials to find one that would withstand heat and bad weather, while maintaining its character. It was during this research process that tests were started on titanium samples and the best treatment was found.

Its lamination process is delicate and has to be done in places with high energy sources, that is why the laminated parts were made in [[Pittsburgh]], in the United States, the rolling allowed to obtain titanium plates only {{convert|0.4|mm|abbr=on}} thick,<ref name="auto"/> which is much thinner than if [[steel]] plates had been used. Moreover, titanium is about half the weight of steel, and the museum's titanium coating represents only {{convert|60|t|abbr=on}}.

During the conception, the pieces were designed to resist the bad weather, that is why a quilted rather than undulated shape was chosen, to resist the wind, and to avoid vibrations during storms.

Titanium is a low-polluting material, and each part has been designed differently according to its orientation on the building, so they correspond perfectly with the curves desired by Gehry.