Frank Gehry Died - What I loved about him

Frank Gehry has recently passed. He was an interesting, offbeat architect who came into his own as computers allowed his brain to run free. He was interested in forms and volumes very early on. I learned a lot from Greg (we're going way back) as he was in architecture school.

What fascinates me is that I learned about him as he changed and grew.

His very early stuff was interested in volumes and the usage of spaces. His first real work was for himself at his home in Santa Monica (ps the neighbors hated it). He decided to morph the house as he expanded it to blur the line between inside and outside.

There is an article about this house from New York Times here

He then received a few odd projects in Santa Monica. An ad agency, where he made a statement with the images and the Santa Monica Mall interior, which he jumbled to create interest. And finally a commission in Venice to add a writing studio to a house owned by a former lifegaurd.

The agency on Pacific Ave - Right near where the bus on Speed was hijacked!

Interior of the old Santa Monica Mall (The Main Place) - now closed

Writer's room overlooking the ocean in Venice

There are two other LA projects I find interesting. Interesting because he is still playing with shapes, size and interiors. One is a condo roof on Roxberry. This was a chance for him to play with colors and volumes. The other is a super bland artist residence and gallery on Melrose, right off Orlando, where the inside space is amazing, but outside is dull as hell.

The Roxbury Condo Addition

Exterior of the Lou Danziger Studio and Home

Interior of the Studio

Below is a model he made of volumes and shapes after the 1991 Danziger Work, but before his famous Bilbao Museum.

Once you realize that volumes and shapes are integral to him, the first big Bilbao Museum commission makes more sense. Here was able to play with shapes with a LOT of money. After it hit, he never looked back.

Gehry's major break, The Bilbao Museum

Other icon works followed, but I find his early stuff the most interesting (if not the best).

Art Museum in Minneapolis at the University of Minnesota

Los Angeles Disney Concert Hall - with projections on it