Frank Gehry
From Exampleproblems
Frank Owen Gehry, CC (born Ephraim Goldberg, February 28, 1929) is an architect known for his sculptural approach to building design. He is best known for building curvaceous structures, often covered with reflective metal. His most famous work, and the clearest expression of his style, is the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, which is covered in titanium.
Born in Toronto, Canada to a Jewish family, Gehry moved at age 17 to California, where he studied at Los Angeles City College before graduating from the University of Southern California School of Architecture. He then studied city planning at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. He is today a naturalized American citizen and lives in Los Angeles.
Gehry's style is derived from late modernism. The tortured, warped forms of his structures are considered expressions of the deconstructivist (DeCon) school of modernist architecture. The DeCon movement departs from modernism in its de-emphasis of societal goals and functional necessity. Unlike early modernist structures, DeCon structures are not required to reflect specific social ideas (such as speed or universality of form), and they do not reflect a belief that form follows function. DeCon, which Gehry has continued to refine, is also known as the Santa Monica school of architecture. This region of the United States has produced the greatest range of experimentation in the field of DeCon design and contains the largest concentration of the structures.
Gehry is considered a modern architectural icon and celebrity. He has appeared in Apple's black and white "Think Different" pictorial ad campaign that associates offbeat but revered figures with Apple's design philosophy. He even once appeared as himself in an episode of "The Simpsons". His buildings, including his private residence, have become tourist attractions. Many museums, firms, and cities seek Gehry's services as a badge of distinction, regardless of the product he delivers.
Seattle's EMP Music Museum represents this phenomenon at its most extreme. Microsoft's Paul Allen chose Gehry as the architect of the urban structure to house his public collection of music history artifacts. While the result was undeniably unique, critical reaction came in the form of withering attacks. The bizarre color choices, the total disregard for architectural harmony with the built and natural surroundings, and the mammoth scale led to accusations that Gehry had simply "got it wrong." Admirers of the building remind critics that similar attacks were levelled against the Eiffel Tower in the late 19th century, and that only historical perspective would allow a fair evaluation of the building's merits.
Recently, Gehry has been criticised by some to be repeating himself, critics claiming the disjointed metal panoply that has become Gehry's trademark is perhaps overused. Almost all of his recent work seems derivative of his landmark Bilbao Guggenheim. (It should be noted, however, that while the Guggenheim was completed before Disney Hall, the latter was designed first.) His critics and admirers alike are watching with anticipation to see whether Gehry is able to produce equally compelling forms in a different idiom.
Contents |
Works
Completed
- Exhibit Center, Merriweather Post Pavilion, and Rouse Company Headquarters, Columbia, Maryland, USA (1974)
- Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, California, USA (various buildings, 1978-2002) [1]
- Santa Monica Place, Santa Monica, California, USA (1980)
- Edgemar Retail Complex, Santa Monica, California, USA (1984)
- Chiat/Day Building, Venice, California, USA (1985-1991)
- Vitra Design Museum. Weil am Rhein, Germany (1989)
- Frederick Weisman Museum of Art, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA (1990) [2]
- Iowa Advanced Technology Laboratories, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA (1987-1992) [3]
- Center for the Visual Arts, University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio, USA (1993) [4]
- American Center, Paris, France (1994) [5]
- The Dancing House ("Fred and Ginger"), Prague, Czech Republic (1995) Photo 1, Photo 2, Photo 3
- Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Bilbao, Spain (1997)
- Der Neue Zollhof, Düsseldorf, Germany (1999) [6]
- Vontz Center for Molecular Studies, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA (1999) [7]
- DG Bank building, Pariser Platz 3, Berlin, Germany (2000)
- Experience Music Project, Seattle, Washington, USA (2000)
- Gehry Tower, Hanover, Germany (2001)
- Issey Miyake, Flagship Store, New York, New York, USA (2001)
- Peter B. Lewis Building, Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA (2002) [8] [9]
- Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, USA (2003) [10] [11]
- Maggie's centre, Dundee, Scotland (2003) [12]
- Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, California, USA (2003)
- Ray and Maria Stata Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA (2004) [13]
- Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park, Chicago, Illinois, USA (2004) [14]
- MARTa, Herford, Germany (2005)
- IAC/InterActiveCorp West Coast Headquarters, Sunset Strip, West Hollywood, California, USA (2005)
In progress
- Art Gallery of Ontario renovation, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (2004)
- Museum of Tolerance, Jerusalem, Israel (expected completion in 2008) [15]
- Science library, Princeton University [16]
- Ohr-O'Keefe Museum, Biloxi, Mississippi, USA (open 2005; all buildings expected to be complete by 2007) [17]
- Panama: Bridge of Life Museum of Biodiversity, Panama City, Panama
Awards
- Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize in Architecture, American Academy of Arts and Letters (1977)
- Pritzker Architecture Prize (1989)
- Wolf Prize in Art (Architecture), Wolf Foundation (1992)
- Praemium Imperiale Award for Architecture, Japan Art Association (1992)
- Dorothy and Lillian Gish Award (1994)
- National Medal of Arts (1998)
- Friedrich Kiesler Prize (1998)
- Gold Medal, American Institute of Architects (AIA) (1999)
- Gold Medal, Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) (2000)
- Gold Medal for Architecture, American Academy of Arts and Letters (2002)
- Companion of the Order of Canada (2002)
Honorary doctorates
- Of Visual Arts; California Institute of the Arts (1987)
- Of Fine Arts; Rhode Island School of Design (1987)
- Of Engineering; Technical University of Nova Scotia (1989)
- Of Fine Arts; Otis Arts Institute (1989)
- Of Humanities; Occidental College (1993)
- Whittier College (1995)
- Of Architecture; Southern California Insitute of Architecture (1997)
- Of Laws; University of Toronto (1998)
- University of Edinburgh (2000)
- University of Southern California (2000)
- Yale University (2000)
- Harvard University (2000)
Additional images
The following are additional images of Gehry's works.
Weisman Art Museum.jpg
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Prague - Dancing House.jpg
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Guggenheim-bilbao-jan05.jpg
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DG Bank Interior, Berlin.jpg
DG Bank building atrium |
Emp.jpg
Experience Music Project southeast corner |
Fisher at Bard College.jpg
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Lightmatter disneyhall5.jpg
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Wfm stata center.jpg
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PBLewis1.JPG
Peter B. Lewis Building, home of the Weatherhead School of Management |
PBLlobby.JPG
Interior View of the Peter B. Lewis Building |
External links
- Gehry's company website
- Photo archive with many images of Gehry's buildings and portraits
- Pritzker Prize page on Gehry
- Panama: Bridge of Life Museum of Biodiversity
- Frank Gehry in Los Angeles (Photos)de:Frank Gehry
es:Frank Gehry fr:Frank Gehry nl:Frank O.Gehry ja:フランク・ゲーリー pt:Frank Gehry sv:Frank Gehry
