Frank Gehry

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I think the blurring of the lines between art and architecture has got to happen.

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When the other products of a culture have faded from human memory, it is the works of archi-tecture that remain to define an era for successive generations. As the 20th century gave way to the 21st, it was hard to dispute that the definitive architect of the age was Frank Gehry, Canadian by birth, a resident of Los Angeles by choice. He first drew notice in his ad-opted city with works deploying commonplace industrial materials in unexpected ways, but he came to international prominence with works which exploded the geometry of tra-ditional architecture to create a dra-matic new form of expression. He deployed cutting-edge computer technology to realize shapes and

forms of hitherto unimaginable complexity, such as the startling ir-regularities of his Guggenheim Mu-seum in Bilbao, Spain, or the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. In these monumental buildings, the uninhibited whimsy of his pencil sketches took shape in powerful structures of gleaming titanium. From Switzerland to Japan, from Santa Monica to Prague, his buildings have transformed human expectations of the designed space. Once mocked for their astonishing originality, his buildings have be-come the signature structures of the challenging times we live in.

Contents4. Building Originality

6. Gehry Residence

8. Vitra Design Museum

10. Guggenheim Museum

12. Walt Disney Concert Hall

14. Marqués de Riscal Hotel

16. New Yorkby Gehry

18. Inspiring the Future

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originality at its finest Much of Gehry’s work falls with-in the style of Deconstructivism, which is often referred to as post-structuralist in nature for its abili-ty to go beyond current modalities of structural definition. In architec-ture, its application tends to de-part from modernism in its inher-ent criticism of culturally inherited givens such as societal goals and functional necessity. Because of this, unlike early modernist struc-tures, Deconstructivist structures

are not required to reflect specific social or universal ideas, such as speed or universality of form, and they do not reflect a belief that form follows function. Gehry’s style at times seems unfin-ished or even crude, but his work is consistent with the California ‘funk’ art movement in the 1960s and ear-ly 1970s, which featured the use of inexpensive found objects and non-traditional media such as clay to make serious art. Gehry has been

called “the apostle of chain-link fencing and corrugated metal sid-ing”. However, a retrospective ex-hibit at New York’s Whitney Muse-um in 1988 revealed that he is also a sophisticated classical artist, who knows European art histo-ry and contemporary sculpture and painting.

The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, along the Nervión River

in downtown Bilbao, Spain.

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originality at its finest

How Frank Gehry’s unique style is defined

today

Left: Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas.

Above: The Dancing House in Prague, Czech Republic.

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Quite plainly, the Gehry Resi-dence is a suburban house total-ly unconcerned with traditionally pleasing aesthetics. As soon as it was completed in 1978 reac-tions ranged from hagiography to anathema. Over time, critical reactions mirrored the role the house would play in the larger canon of contemporary archi-tecture. A 1979 review by New York Times architecture critic Paul Goldberger, Hon. AIA, recognized the house as an extremely successful provo-cation—if not much more.

gehry residenCe

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A continuous changing swirl of white forms on the exterior, each seemingly without apparent relationship to the other, with its interiors a dynamically powerful interplay, in turn directly expressive of the exterior convolutions.

He called the Gehry Residence the most significant new house in Southern California in years, admir-ing its central conceptual conceit: an old house wrapped in jagged panels of corrugated metal, cre-ating a new band of patio-like in-door/outdoor space on three sides. Windows were inflated into small skylight atriums, canted and dis-torted into sculptural expressions of transparent mass. A thorough-ly collaged composition, plywood and (most infamously) chain-link fence punctuate the house’s rough-hewn exterior. Inside the added

indoor/outdoor space, the floor was asphalt, and the now-interior wall was still the original painted (salmon-pink) siding. Throughout the interior, Gold-berger appreciated the abun-dance of natural light and the exposed wood beams Gehry revealed after he gutted the original house, which com-municate a sense of struc-tural honesty not often associated with his work.

gehry residenCe

1977

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A spectacular structure made of titanium, glass, and limestone, hailed as the most important building of its time

Vitra design

MUseUM

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A spectacular structure made of titanium, glass, and limestone, hailed as the most important building of its time

The Museum opened on November 3, 1989, and pictures of Frank O. Geh-ry’s unconventional building - his first work in Europe - circled the globe. Today, the Vitra Design Museum is in-ternationally active as a cultural institu-tion that has made a major contribution to the research and popular dissemina-tion of design. The Museum presents a broad spectrum of topics on design and culture, with a special emphasis on furniture and interior design. Its ac-tivities encompass the production of

1989

exhibitions, workshops, publications, and museum products, and the main-tenance of an extensive collection, an archive, and a research library. The travelling exhibitions of the Vitra Design Museum are shown at renowned part-ner institutions around the world. With regard to its independence and range of topics, the Vitra Design Muse-um is comparable to a public museum. From a financial standpoint, however, it is largely self-sufficient. Its partnership

with the Vitra corporation consists of a basic annual supplement to the Mu-seum budget, the use of Vitra architec-ture, and organisational co-operation.

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gUggenheiM MUseUM bilbao Well before the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao opened its doors to the public on October 19, 1997, the new museum was making news. The numerous artists, archi-tects, journalists, politicians, film-makers, and historians that visited the building site in the mere four years of its construction antici-pated the success of the venture. Frank Gehry’s limestone, glass, and titanium building was hailed by architect Philip Johnson as “the greatest building of our time” and the pioneering collaboration be-tween the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and Basque authorities was seen to challenge assump-tions about art museum collecting and programming.

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Located on the Bay of Biscay, Bilbao is the fourth largest city in Spain, one of the country’s most important ports, and a center for manufacturing, shipping, and com-merce. In the late 1980s the Basque authorities embarked on an ambi-tious redevelopment program for the city. By 1991, with new designs for an airport, a subway system, and a footbridge, among other im-portant projects by major interna-tional architects such as Norman Foster, Santiago Calatrava, and Arata Isozaki, the city planned to build a first-class cultural facility. In April and May of 1991 at the in-vitation of the Basque Government and the Diputación Foral de Biz-kaia, Thomas Krens, Director of the

Solomon R. Guggenheim Founda-tion, met repeatedly with officials, signing a preliminary agreement to bring a new Guggenheim Museum to Bilbao. An architectural competition led to the selection of California-based architect Gehry, known for his use of unorthodox materials and inven-tive forms, and his sensitivity to the urban environment. Gehry’s pro-posal for the site on the Nervion River ultimately included features that embrace both the identity of the Guggenheim Museum and its new home in the Basque Country. The building’s glass atrium refers to the famous rotunda of Frank Lloyd Wright’s New York Guggenheim, and its largest gallery is traversed by

gUggenheiM MUseUM bilbaoBilbao’s Puente de La Salve, a ve-hicular bridge serving as one of the main gateways to the city. In 1992 Juan Ignacio Vidarte, now Director General of the Guggenheim Bilbao, was formally appointed to over-see the development of the proj-ect and to supervise the construc-tion. Groundbreaking took place in 1993 and in 1997 a gala dinner and reception, attended by an interna-tional audience and Spain’s Queen Sofia and King Juan Carlos I, cele-brated the inauguration of the Gug-genheim Museum Bilbao.

A spectacular structure made of titanium, glass, and limestone, hailed as the most important building of its time

1997

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Walt disney ConCert hallThe world renown concert hall to celebrate the art of music and architecture

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Walt Disney Concert Hall, home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, was designed to be one of the most acoustically sophisticated concert halls in the world, providing both visual and aural intimacy for an un-paralleled musical experience. Through the vision and generos-ity of Lillian Disney, the Disney fam-ily, and many other individual and corporate donors, the city enjoys

one of the finest concert halls in the world, as well as an internationally recognized architectural landmark. From the stainless steel curves of its striking exterior to the state-of-the-art acoustics of the hard-wood-paneled main auditorium, the 3.6-acre complex embodies the unique energy and creative spirit of the city of Los Angeles and its orchestra.

2003

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19th-century vineyard with dynamic forms and great unfurling ribbons of pink-and-gold-hued titanium

MarqUés de risCal Vineyard hotel

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Before Frank Gehry’s titanium-coifed boutique hotel arrived in the village of Elciego, at the heart of Spain’s wine-growing La Rioja re-gion, the town already had a land-mark: the majestic 16th-century church, presiding over a picturesque valley. But while the church’s paired towers shine as local highlights, Gehry’s building is more of an inter-national beacon, commissioned by the local Marqués de Riscal Winery to promote the growing internation-al interest in Spanish wine. Set beside a stream at the edge of town, Marqués de Riscal is one of the region’s oldest and largest wineries, with buildings dating to 1853. According to Edwin Chan, Gehry’s design partner on the proj-ect, the client was initially interested in a “chateau for the 21st century, a kind of bed-and-breakfast for VIPs,” as part of an overall modernization of its facilities. The project eventu-ally grew to 27,000 square feet to include 43 guest rooms (14 junior suites in the main building and 29 rooms or suites in an annex, all managed by an international luxury chain), a wine-therapy spa, and a restaurant run by a local Michelin-starred chef.

The hotel’s site within the win-ery’s compound was challenging. Set behind the historic stone fac-tories and backed by a steep hill, the new building does not nestle into the vineyards; instead, it stands over a paved plaza that covers a new bottle cave (accessible by di-rect elevators from the hotel). Geh-ry’s structure rises on three stone piers to capture views and assert its sculptural presence. Views of the town and valley successively unfold as you ascend from the glazed lobby, with its wine bar and terrace, to the 14 junior suites on the next floor, the restau-rant with its ample terraces above it, and the guest lounge with more terraces at the top. Seemingly casual stacks of rectangular volumes, clad in pale sand-stone like the masonry of the church and village, house the interior spaces. Floor-to-ceiling wood-framed windows, many jutting from the corners of the volumes, peek out amid flowing

rolls of mirror-finish stainless steel and pale gold-and-pink-colored titanium (hues inspired, the archi-tects say, by the gold-mesh wrap-per, silver cap, and purple contents of the company’s bottles, and pro-duced by passing titanium through an electric current in an acid bath). Exposed steel structures support these metal sheets, forming a capricious shading layer—a cascading succes-sion of canopies—over the stone.

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At 870 feet tall, New York by Gehry is the tallest residential tower in the Western Hemisphere and a singular addition to the iconic Man-hattan skyline. For his first residen-tial commission in New York City, master architect Frank Gehry has reinterpreted the design language of the classic Manhattan high-rise with undulating waves of stainless steel that reflect the changing light, transforming the appearance of the

building throughout the day. Gehry’s distinctive aesthetic is carried across the interior residential and amenity spaces with custom furnishings and installations. Gehry’s innovative tower de-sign has resulted in over 200 unique floor plans that bring the drama of the dynamic exterior wall move-ment into residents’ private spaces. Where the façade undulates, the residential windows also move into

neW yorkby gehry

The 76-story tower with the shimmery, crumpled stainless-steel skin

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the apex of the folds, creating free-form bay windows that are fitted with seating or left open to accom-modate dining or reading niches. All interior finishes and fixtures have been selected by Gehry, including cabinetry crafted in his signature honey-colored vertical grain Doug-las Fir. In addition, Gehry designed the sculptural residential entry door handles and hardware, which

2011are inspired by organic forms and movement. All residences are fin-ished with white oak flooring, fitted with solar shades that provide priva-cy while preserving views, and offer individual washer/dryer units. Build-ing-wide features include water fil-tration, individually controlled verti-cal heating and cooling units, and large picture windows throughout to maximize views.

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© Edgartista’s Illustration of famous Frank Gehry Buildings

inspiring the fUtUre

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Across years of architecture design, Frank Gehry has become one of the most well renown and re-spected men in the business. As he continues to take on projects and designs well into his 80’s, Gehry makes an even larger mark on the landscapes around the world to-day. After completing breath taking

At 83 years old, Frank Gehry continues to awe the world with creativity and innovation

inspiring the fUtUre

projects on all ends of the globe, many young architects look up to Gehry, while there still remains crit-ics of his work as there would with any profession. Overall, the nations that have been blessed with struc-tures by his design, will forever keep him in their memories and inspira-tion for years.

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