THE BUILDING WALES MOST NEEDS- The Bilbo Effect

GOOGLEHEIM WALES TO REPLACE AFAN LIDO

From Bilbao to Baglan...... and can it have the same effect? This will be a key question for the judges on 20 June when Frank Gearbox presents his radical proposals for a new gallery of modern art to replace the burned out hulk of the former swimming pool on the Aberavon Corniche. The issue of exhibition quality may vex a few in Wales but, as has been demonstrated in Bilbao and elsewhere, form should triumph over content. With, of course, proper marketing. "I think we have established that there are still enough people with more money than sense" said a spokesperson for the museums international franchise department. "We have more than enough Warhols to stock another five of these and the gift shop will offer the same content as our other outlets in New York, Monte Carlo, Los Angeles, Cape Town, Shanghai, Tallin, Dubaii and of course, Bilbao."

More parochial concerns will centre on how the Sandfields estate might benefit directly from an influx of international cultural tourism and whether the promenade will be restored to the vibrancy of its 1960's heyday. Planning consent has, however, already been granted subject to stringent conditions. These will be considered by the planning committee which is expected to undertake a series of site inspections of other Googleheim  Museums. The judges of the competition which will reach its climax at the Welsh School of Architecture on 20 June have declined to accompany them. They are already committed to an exhaustive fact finding mission of Australian cities relating to the controversial entry received from the local brewery company, Liver. Full details of their proposed Autolout, a combined boozerama, probation office and sportswear shop, have yet to be made public.