Bilbao, Spain
Frank Owen Gehry, CC (born Frank Owen Goldberg; February 28, 1929) is a Canadian-American Pritzker Prize-winning architect based in Los Angeles.
His buildings, including his private residence, have become tourist attractions. His works are cited as being among the most important works of contemporary architecture in the 2010 World Architecture Survey, which led Vanity Fair to label him as “the most important architect of our age”.
The tower at 8 Spruce Street in lower Manhattan which was completed in February 2011 has a stainless steel and glass exterior and is 76 stories high.
Gehry’s best-known works include the titanium-covered Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, photo above; MIT Ray and Maria Stata Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts; Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles; Experience Music Project in Seattle; Weisman Art Museum in Minneapolis; Dancing House in Prague; the Vitra Design Museum and the museum MARTa Herford in Germany; the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto; the Cinémathèque française in Paris; and 8 Spruce Street in New York City. But it was his private residence in Santa Monica, California, that jump-started his career, lifting it from the status of “paper architecture”—a phenomenon that many famous architects have experienced in their formative decades through experimentation almost exclusively on paper before receiving their first major commission in later years. Gehry is also the designer of the future Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial.
Casa Danzante, Prague–Inspiration dancing couple Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers
Much of Gehry’s work falls within the style of Deconstructivism, which is often referred to as post-structuralist in nature for its ability to go beyond current modalities of structural definition. In architecture, its application tends to depart from modernism in its inherent criticism of culturally inherited givens such as societal goals and functional necessity. Because of this, unlike early modernist structures, 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 own Santa Monica residence is a commonly cited example of deconstructivist architecture, as it was so drastically divorced from its original context, and in such a manner as to subvert its original spatial intention.
Criticism
Reception of Gehry’s work is not always positive. Art historian Hal Foster reads Gehry’s architecture as, primarily, in the service of corporate branding. Criticism of his work includes complaints that the buildings waste structural resources by creating functionless forms, do not seem to belong in their surroundings and are apparently designed without accounting for the local climate.
Reasoning has it his work is about possibilities… Form follows function is one of the long-standing slogans of modern architecture. Its use was pioneered by turn-of-the-century skyscraper architect Louis Sullivan, complemented by Adolf Loos’s 1908 assertion that ‘Ornament is crime’, adapted by Frank Lloyd Wright and adopted by Modernists and Bauhaus desginers such as Mies van der Rohe (‘Less is more’), Walter Groupius, etc. Originally meant to be defiantly honest – let the form of a building or product result from its function and no more – and anti-style, it eventually evolved into yet another set of un-interrogated conventions, and is now being both challenged and re-worked. Clearly seen in Gehry’s work.
Marques de Riscal Winery
Marques de Riscal winery is the oldest and most traditional of the Rioja.
Architecture students the world over are inspired by Gehry’s work. His work is think-out-of-the-box philosophy.
Does Gehry’s work inspire your thoughts to change the world in some way? Think also of Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, so many others. How will you change the way we think, make the world a better place? Are you a mover, a shaker?
Parts cited from: Frank Gehry - Wikipedia, the freeencyclopedia
WOW, your knowledge and research is impressive. Historical writers are always looking for information on architecture from early medieval through all the periods to Edwardian times. What about a series encompassing all the periods in England and Europe?
Thank you Charl. I would enjoy that. This week I have a request to research a church in France for one of my readers for the new book she is writing. Then I can organize something for those eras. Fun, all. I love doing it. I will probably talk about the architecture and interiors, rather than the culture and social aspects. We shall see.
Gehry’s buildings makes me thirstily curious about the interiors. I want to go inside and see what’s on the other side of those unconventional walls. I’m not sure that indicates a “welcoming” vibe from the building, but I am adventurous and like to explore. I’d love to know how a room that looks collapsed on the outside works on the inside. IMO, Casa Danzante looks more like a bombed structure in Beirut, but then again, a closer look at the photo reveals scaffolding on the upper floors, so – in that photo – it’s unfinished. I’d love to tour that winery to scope out the interior space. All those wavy lines suggest some sophisticated mathematical formulas at work that I can’t even begin to understand. Anyway, thank you for suggesting I take a closer look.
Rhonda, thanks for the wonderful comments. The interior would be manipulated wood or sheetrock, a material that could absorb sound, be paintable, warm. Victorian houses had octagonal and cylindrical rooms that amazed the people in the 19th century, no doubt you have seen those. And you can visit the 20th century Guggenheim in New York and see the curved interior spaces. It is not a mystery, but amazing nevertheless. If anything can be done to the exterior, anything can be done to the interior. There was a utube video of architectural students experimenting with Gehry’s ideas. Thinking out of the box has always been my quest. Writing is the same, what can a writer offer to the reader, what can the designer offer to the client, the list goes on. Let’s all go to Disney, he has a concert hall there with rolled walls.
The Guggenheim! Of course! I went to the Armani exhibit there several years ago. All the mannequins displaying his exquisite gowns and suits lined up along the curved walls. I liked how the ramps arced and flowed around the center atrium. What looked strange from the outside held a logical beauty on the inside.
Good for you. Sounds like you love and appreciate those deep thinkers. I enjoy your comments.
Beautiful work. I like your research and it was great seeing you at RWA. What a blast we had.
Marian, thanks for your comment. It was great to see you as well.
WOW, Gail! The depth of your analysis and detailed research is impressive! Gehry’s work is truly innovative and beautiful. I consider myself a creative person, but I still cling to the structural stability of the linear, both in my writing and in life. I can’t imagine being inventive enough to draw so far outside the lines. I’m certainly glad that others are:-) It takes that kind of courageous innovation to move the world forward!
Paula, thank you for your comment. We would design something for you that would be linear virtual stability. It does take courage to forge ahead, but first knowing about possibilities needs to happen. That’s why folks travel,explore, read… to learn. Every book you write is exploration into some area you didn’t know about, or was not familiar with, right? New Yorkers are open to contemporary, modern design and abstract art. The exposure New Yorkers get give opportunity for strange and unusual observations. Have you read the life of Steve Jobs? My goodness, was he ever an out of the box thinker, and he didn’t have too many agreeing with him either. Imagine? Me for one, is so glad he moved ahead w/o world approval.