Contemporary

1. Contemporary By William Armitage Id2 2008

2. He moved to California in 1947, got a driving job & studied at Los Angeles City College. Graduated from University of South California school of Architecture in 1954 He studied city planning at the Harvard Graduate School of design for a year, leaving the course before completing the program. Frank Owen Gehry Born 28th Feb 1929 Toronto Ontario Canada

3. Gehry worked with Wdton Becket & Associates from 1957 , Victor Sruen from 1961 in Los Angeles, & with Andre Remondet in Paris in 1961/62 it was at this time Gehry worked with La Corbusier & Balthasar Neumann of whom he greatly admired. In 1962 Gehry started his own practice. Gehry holds dual citizenship in the United States & Canada. He lives in Santa Monaco California & continues to practice out of Los Angeles. One of franks peers, Gregory Walsh, who he attended college with, became an associate in the practice. In that time (1986) frank would employ 140 employees in eight countries. In Barcelona, spain, frank befriended architect Peter Eisenman, who wrote Peter Eisenman & Frank Gehry, a book including a dialogue between two architects. Frank befriended more artists like Kenny Price, Ed Moses & Ron Davis, as he felt like an outsider with some of his architect peers because he does not follow their rules. It was not until he received awards from those peers that he felt accepted. He married Anita Snyder & they divorced in the mid sixties after a couple of years. He then married Berta, this current wife, in the mid seventies. He has two daughters from his first marriage & two sons from his second marriage.

4. Gehry’s work attracts negative criticism The buildings waste structural resources by creating functionless forms The building is apparently designed without researching the local climate. The spectacle of a building often overwhelms its intended use (especially in the case of museums & arenas.) The buildings do not seem to belong in their surroundings “organically”. Frank Gehry’s structures are sometimes classified as being of the deconstructivist or “ DeCon” An admirer of the quirky, the accidental & the absurd. He is an obsessive perfectionist. He practices architecture in the most timeless & sophisticated sense, but with a special spin.

5. Admiration Frank Gehry was trained by a Viennese master & was encouraged to explore Japanese forms & understand it. Many of his works are inspired from Japanese architecture. Gehry was Influenced by Marcel Duchamp, who was born in 1887 & died in 1968. He was a Painter & mixed media artist. His work is characterized by its humour, the variety & unconventionality of its media & incessant probing of the boundaries of art. His legacy includes the insight that art can be about ideas instead of worldly things. It must be said that his first main influence was his grandmother Caplan He also admired La Corbusier & studied his works .

6. Criticized for ballooning budget, Gehry designed building at CaseWestern Reserve University was originally planned to cost 25 million dollars, then it was raised to 40 million after Gehry was hired. The cost of the building went up to 60 million. Possible environmental hazards, According to the Los Angeles Times, Disney Hall in down town Los Angeles has “ roasted the side walk to 140 degrees, enough to melt plastic & cause serious sun burn to people standing on the street. The city council paid for the offending panels to be sanded in order to reduce glare. Gehry could not see what all the fuss was about. Seattle EMP Museum represents an example of Gehry’s disregard of the structures surroundings, while the result is unique, the bizarre colour choice & the total disregard for architectural harmony with build & natural surroundings. Seattle EMP Museum

7. The Rasin Building Dancing House This stunning building constructed between 1992 – 1996, is somewhat of a rarity in Prague, a modern glass building surrounded by historic architecture . In 1945 an American bomb devastated a handsome Neo- Classical apartment block on the corner of two streets. Dancing house in Prague occupies this fine position by the river Vltava. Curvy outlines, which led to architects Croatian born Vlado Milunc & Frank Gehry to initially name it the “Astaire & Rodgers Building” after the legendary dance duo. This building is an example of deconstructivist architecture. It reflects a woman & a man (ginger Rodgers & fred Astair ) dancing together. Construction is from 99% panels each of different shape & dimension, each therefore requiring a unique wooden form. Its unusual shape & technical solutions caused a big public debate. After ten years, emotions are over & the house has its place in modern Prague.

8. Located in Bilbao Spain, the contemporary steel structure claded in titanium was built in 1997. The Art Museum is built alongside the river Nervion. The Guggenheim is one of several Museums belonging to the Solomon R Guggenheim foundation. Computer simulations of the building structure made it feasible to build shapes that architects of earlier eras would have found it impossible to construct. The museum is a spectacular monument from the river & at street level it is quiet modest & does not overwhelm its traditional surroundings. Guggenheim Museum The curves of the building have been designed to appear randomly. Frank Gehry has been quoted as saying that “the randomness of the curves is designed to catch the light”. The building opened to the public in 1997 & situated in a port town, it is intended to resemble a ship. Its brilliant reflective titanium panels resemble fish scales. ( fish like forms recur commonly in Gehry’s designs.

9. Frances Howard Goldwyn Regional Branch Library,  Hollywood, CA Successful Designs of Frank Gehey Vitra International Furniture Manufacturing Facility and Museum, Weilam Rhein, Germany. This structure is more symmetrical than the usual Gehry work Fishdance Restaurant Kobe, Japan Gehry’s signature style is seen here utilizing bold shapes & angled forms in the building A Fish sculpture that dominates the front of the building

10. Conclusion : I must say that I find Frank Gehry’s designs exciting & futuristic & often in total contrast to the surrounding buildings. At the early stages of my report , I found his architecture disjointed & totally unattractive but as I progressed & studied his designs I began to understand & appreciate Gehry’s work. Words of wisdom from Gehry has inspired me & I would hope to take some of what he has said to each project I am involved in “ I approach each building as a sculptural object, a spatial container, a space with light & air, a response to context & appropriateness of feeling & spirit. To this container, this sculpture the user brings his baggage, his problems & interacts with it to accommodate his needs, if he can’t do that I’ve failed”