Frank Gehry - Toron Smith

Frank Gehry

Most of us are familiar with at least one piece of Frank Gehry’s architecture. I remember there was this big to do about Paul Allen investing in a new kind of music museum called the Experience Music Project or “EMP” for short. It was supposed to be this huge cutting edge building that put the viewer in the drivers seat in terms of interactivity. The icing on the cake was that Mr. Allen commissioned a world renowned architect to design the building in its soon to be home in downtown Seattle. I never really paid to much attention to the uproar or thought to pay that much attention to the construction process of the museum. Lets just say that when I saw final product I finally understood the cheers and the jeers. That in my opinion sums up the work of Frank Gehry. His work is often praised for its forward adaptation of design, all while criticized because of his against the grain approaches.

Frank Gehry was born on February 28, 1929 to a Polish-Jewish family in Toronto, Canada. As a young boy Frank began to hone his creative impulses by constructing and sketching out his ideas and would often borrow materials from his grandfathers hardware store for inspiration. The Young Gehry moved to Los Angeles in 1947 where he began studying at Los Angeles City College. He took his first architecture classes on a whim and fell in love with the possibilities of design. It should be noted that he was very much under skilled and was not a natural when it came to drafting. With the help of his professors and an early encounter with established architect Raphael Soriano, he won a scholarship to the University of Southern California. In 1954 he earned his degree in architecture.

Gehry’s post undergrad career began as he began work at notable architecture firm Victor Gruin Associates. His work would soon be interrupted by military service where he served one year in the United States Army. It was not soon after he returned that he entered into the Harvard Graduate School of Design. He began studying city planning but returned to Los Angeles before he completed his degree. Upon his return home he worked at various LA architectural firms but it is said that he grew tired and decided on relocating with his wife and kids to Paris were he worked for French Architect Andre Romondet and apprenticed under noted modernist Le Corbusier. This marked the true beginnings of his career.

After his stewardship in Paris, Gehry returned to Los Angeles where he spawned Gehry Associates. It should be stated that in the early stages of his business career he continued to work in the international style as created by Le Corbusier and taught by the Bauhaus school. A change began to take place in his design style as he became closely involved with the sculpting community. It was by this new found interest in sculpting that he began to explore new ways and new uses of material and thought. It was at this point where he broke through and his personal design language began to surface. National popularity was soon to follow after the success of his furniture line called East Edges. The hugely popular line was featured in numerous magazine spreads and periodicals. By the mid 1980’s Frank’s work attracted international attention and world acclaim. His work in the Vitra furniture factory in Basil, Switzerland and the Vitra Design Museum in Weil-amRhein, Germany cemented his status as a star in the design world. His style is known as playful and imaginative, all while complex in thought and construction. Critics placed his style of work in the realm of “deconstructivism.“

Deconstructivism, or Deconstruction, is an approach to building design that attempts to view architecture in bits and pieces. The basic elements of architecture are dismantled. Deconstructivist buildings may seem to have no visual logic. They may appear to be made up of unrelated, disharmonious abstract forms.

Originally, some of the architects known as Deconstructivists were influenced by the ideas of the French philosopher Jacques Derrida. For him Deconstructivism should be considered an extension of his interest in radical formalism. Some practitioners of deconstructivism were also influenced by the formal experimentation and geometric imbalances of Russian constructivism. There are additional references in deconstructivism to 20th-century movements: the modernism/postmodernism interplay, expressionism, cubism, minimalism and contemporary art. The attempt in deconstructivism throughout is to move architecture away from what its practitioners see as the constricting 'rules' of modernism such as "form follows function," "purity of form," and "truth to materials."

Gehry’s work is sometimes referred to as Los Angeles School, which is based on the idea that many architects around the Los Angeles area produce postmodern architecture. His work is also known as California funk, which references the 60s and 70s use of inexpensive material to make something grand.

I guess you don’t get to become a Pritzker Prize winning architect without having constructed some amazing pieces of architecture. One of Frank Gehry’s most renowned and some say his best work to date is from his construction of the Guggenheim Museum in Spain. The building itself is designed to be, feel, and appear random. The museum opened in 1997 and was considered by many one of the most immaculate buildings ever constructed in this time and age. The shape itself is said to resemble a ship, which seems quite appropriate since the museum was constructed on the shores of the Nervion River in Biboa. It blends together the world of both the organic and inorganic. While the body of the building flows naturally, the exoskeleton seamlessly blends together titanium flanks to hold together the beautiful composition. In an explanation of the process Gehry explained how he managed to develop the Guggenheim on time and within budget. First he secured the artists in order to maintain his artist vision, then he budgeted a realistic cost or figure, and finally he used a computer-aided system called CATIA along with other time saving software in order to maintain efficiency.

Being from Seattle I think that it would only be in order for me to reference the Gehry piece of architecture that adorns my cities vibrant metropolitan makeup. The building is made up of more than 140,000 square feet of sheet metal and steel. The EMP is very much psychedelic and pays homage in various ways to Seattle bands and rock and roll prodigies such as Jimi Hendrix, Pearl Jam, and Nirvana. The building itself is said to resemble a smashed guitar. "We started collecting pictures of Stratocasters, bringing in guitar bodies, drawing on those shapes in developing our ideas" Gehry stated. The outside of the building features a rainbow of golds, silvers, reds and blues. It definitely is a sight to see if and when one travels to Seattle.

Another wildly famous work of Frank Gehry is the Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles. In shape it takes after the Guggenheim in my opinion, but on a less grand scale. It seats well over 2,000 occupants. The stainless steel exterior has been said to pose numerous problems according to some Los Angeles residents. In 2005 some of the panels were sanded and dulled in order to counteract the problematic glare.

All in all Frank Gehry’s architecture if not anything is compelling to the eye. He has a flair for pushing the limits of construction and form in the architectural and design world. His non-conformist designs are still today as controversial as ever. I encourage any who has not gotten a change to visit one of his many building to do so. I’m sure you’ll walk away with a strong opinion of your own.

Watch This: Charlie Rose Interview with Frank Gehry: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8650915086454055077

Bibliography

Frank Gehry Biography, Academy of Achievement 2007

Charlie Rose, Frank Gehry, May 2009

Frank O. Gehry: The Complete Works, Phaidon Press, Oct 2003

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Gehry

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deconstructivism