The busy Calle Iparraguirre, which crosses Bilbao diagonally, takes us straight to the main entrance. The first surprise on arrival is the number of steps we have to go down to reach the main entrance lobby. This is because the building has in fact been sunk sixteen metres below the city’s ground level to prevent it from sticking out too much in the skyline.

After the entrance lobby we come to a central atrium from which the three levels of galleries spring. The most eyecatching feature here is the metal flower skylight crowning the atrium and the terrace it gives access to, crowned by a canopy. At the back of this terrace is a broad flight of stairs leading to the tower, designed to integrate the Puente de la Salve into the building’s overall architectural scheme.

In all there are nineteen galleries: ten with a classic rectangular shape and the other nine completely irregular. The galleries are connected by curving walkways suspended from the roof or lifts covered with titanium panels that resemble fish scales.

The museum hosts many temporary exhibitions but there is also a permanent collection; artworks installed outside the galleries are an integral part of the whole, as well as others decorating specific spaces, all commissioned from outstanding contemporary artists. Witness Holzer’s columns in room 101; Richard Serra’s Snake sculpture based on huge leaning oblique walls, Jeff Koons’s fetching Puppy or Bourgeois’s metal spider Maman, both set up outside the museum.

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