Frank Gehry

By: Grace Phillips

About the Artist

• Born on February 28 th Ontario Canada 1929 in • In 1947 he moved to Los Angeles, California • He received a bachelor’s degree in architecture from University of Southern California.

• He has been a professor at Columbia University, Yale, Rhode Island School of Design, and many more • In 2011 he went back to University of Southern California as a professor of architecture.

His Inspiration

• Use to play with scrap wood with his grandmother on the floor • Drawn to the social issues, architecture is the panacea for cities futures • “For me it's a free association, but it grows out of a sense of responsibility, sense of values, human values. The importance of relating to the community, and all of those things...and the client's budget, their pocketbook, the client's wishes”

Deconstructivism

• Postmodern architecture that began in 1980’s • Departs from modernist style • Function follows form • Non-rectangular, distortion, fragments, manipulation • Influenced by French philosopher Jacques Derrida • Daniel Libeskind, Christine and Horst Lechner

Formal Qualities

• His work is abstract incorporates movement • The interaction between space, people, and building is important • Reflection and play of light • Functional building, but with a sculptural twist

His Process

• He starts with scribble sketches • Then builds a rough model out of thick paper • Assistance take pictures to load to the computer • Computer programs provide the math and physics to make it stand • http://www.youtube.com/movie?v=o49mPHHEiZ4

Beekman Tower, New York

The Experience Music Project, Seattle

Dancing House, Prague

Guggenheim Museum, Spain

Vitra Design Museum, Germany

Millennium Park, Chicago

Lesson Ideas

• Have students construct small buildings in similar processes • Compare and contrast his architecture to traditional buildings • Look at other deconstructivist artists • Write a reflection on overall effectiveness of his style in communicating his ideas.

References

• Wikipedia. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Gehry • Wikipedia. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deconstructivism • Sydney, P. (Director) (2005). Sketches of frank gehry [DVD]. Available from http://youtube.com/movie?v=o49mPHHEiZ4 • Straub, M. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://matthewstraubdesign.com/483e_web/project04/gehry.html • Greenberg, J., & Jordan, S. (2000). Frank O. Gehry : outside in / Jan Greenberg & Sandra Jordan. New York : DK Ink, 2000.