General info:
Frank Owen Gehry, CC (born Ephraim Owen Goldberg, 02/28/1929) is a Pritzker Prize winning architect based in Los Angeles, California. His buildings, including his private residence, have become tourist attractions. Many museums, companies, and cities seek Gehry’s services as a badge of distinction, beyond the product he delivers. His best known works include the titanium-covered Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles, Dancing House in Prague, Czech Republic, and his private residence in Santa Monica, California, which jump-started his career, lifting it from the status of “paper architecture”, a phenomenon which 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 a Distinguished Professor of Architecture at Columbia University in New York City and also teaches at Yale University.
The warped forms of Frank Gehry’s structures are classified sometimes as being of the deconstructivist, or “DeCon” school of postmodernist architecture, whether or not he consciously holds such inclinations. Gehry himself disavows any association with the movement and claims no formal alliance to any particular architectural movement in general.
Recommended book: Frank O. Gehry: The Complete Works
Official: Website
Some of the works:
“The breakthrough is the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao (1997) in which Frank Gehry not just designs a single abstracted fish, but a school of them. Sitting at the riverfront in the city center of Bilbao, in between elevated twisting roads, the building is cut loose from the city fabric, becoming something totally on its own. The school of fish embraces you.” Brad has visited the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain at least twice (that we know about) in 1997 and 2007.
“Tiffany & Co. announced a partnership with internationally renowned architect F. Gehry who created an exclusive jewelry collection with Tiffany to be introduced in April ’06. With this historic agreement, Gehry becomes the jeweler’s newest designer to bring a bold and original dynamic to the worlds of fashion and design. The Gehry Collection will debut with six distinct jewelry collections. In the hands of this master builder, precious metals, stones and wood are interpreted in provocative new shapes highlighted with brilliant color, patina and rich grain.“
“The Bridge of Life building, which is designed by one of the world’s most important architecture firms — Frank O. Gehry & Associates — will be a new icon for Panama. It will also be a striking building unlike anything most of its visitors have ever experienced. Set in a beautiful park that showcases the diversity of natural life in Panama, the building’s pavilions house extraordinary interactive exhibits that allow the visitor to get close to nature.” Brad has visited the museum at least once (that we know of) in 2006.
“Frank Gehry is one of today’s most important architects and he likes to use unusual materials for his architecture and furniture like the Frank Gehry Cardboard Furniture. With his “Easy Edges” furniture he succeeded in giving a new aesthetic dimension to such an everyday material as cardboard.Despite their appearing bafflingly simple, the “Easy Edges” are nonetheless constructed with an architect’s care and are extremely robust and sturdy. Having given them a makeover from the world of colour, Gehry has given the “Easy Edges” a new dimension – colourfulness.“
Quotes from Brad:
“‘The perks for me aren’t good tables or concert seats’ he explains. ‘For me, it’s getting to meet Gehry. It was just a thrill for me to see the working of his operation. Right now, Gehry’s the voice, the pioneer. He’s completely reinventing construction.’ As for the part that really got Pitt’s juices flowing, it was the new materials department-titanium foil, specially treated glass, etc. marvels the heartthrob: ‘I got to see where it’s all going.’” – W 2001
“‘I stood across the water at Gehry’s Bilbao and just had absolute shivers,’ Pitt says. ‘Just shivers. It’s funny, because I saw an interview where he was standing on that very spot, and he was showing it to his clients. He thought, ‘Oh, my God. What have I done with these people’s money?’” – USA Weekend 2003
“Gehry said one of my favorite quotes that I really adhere to now. He said, ‘If you know where it’s going, it’s not worth doing.’ That spoke volumes to me.’” – USA Weekend 2003
“The actor described meeting the architect as ‘about as much fun as I’d had’.” – Businessweek 2005
Frank Gehry is one of your favorites. “Oh, yeah. He’s doing the Disney Hall downtown. And Jose Raphael Moneo’s cathedral that’s going up downtown is amazing. Cesar Pelli and a couple of others are doing an addition to one of the art centers. There is some great stuff going on, but I wish they’d put more into it. L.A.’s a great city.”
Have you been to Gehry’s Guggenheim in Bilbao, Spain?
“I saw a picture of it when it was just finished, and I lost my shit. I was doing a tour of Europe and booked a plane to take us there just for the day to see it. I didn’t even make it inside, most of the time I just walked around and around outside. It is the sexiest building I’ve ever seen. What a voice! He’s something special.” – Flaunt 2001
Quotes from Gehry:
“Calling from his Santa Monica office, Gehry confirms Pitt’s passion for the subject. ‘He’s in love with architecture,’ Gehry says. ‘He was like a kid in a candystore. He had a gleam in his eye-and those eyes are pretty gleamy.’ But Pitt is not just a pretty face, the architect notes: ‘He’s done his homework. He was very well informed.’” – W 2001