Frank Gehry, "Deconstructivist" Architect

Born:

February 28, 1929 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Name at Birth:

Ephraim Owen Goldberg. Gehry, who was born into a Jewish family, changed his name when he married his first wife, Anita Snyder.

Education:

• Los Angeles City College
• University of Southern California. Architecture degree completed in 1954
• Harvard Graduate School of Design. Studied city planning for one year.

Career of Frank Gehry:

Early in his career, Frank Gehry designed houses inspired by modern architects such as Richard Neutra and Frank Lloyd Wright. As Gehry's career expanded, he became known for massive, iconoclastic projects that attracted attention and controversy. Many buildings by Frank Gehry have become tourist attractions, drawing visitors from around the world.

Famous Buildings by Frank Gehry:

• 1979 and 1987: Gehry House (Gehry's private residence)in Santa Monica, California
• 1993: Weisman Art Museum at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis
• 1997: Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain
• 1999: Maggies Centre in Dundee, Scotland
• 2001: Bard College Center for the Performing Arts, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York
• 2004: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Stata Complex, Cambridge, Massachusetts
• 1989-2004: Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, California
• 2004: Jay Pritzker Music Pavillion in Chicago, Illinois
• 2005: 'MARTa' Museum in Herford, Germany
• 2007: IAC Building in New York City

Awards:

• 1977: Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize in Architecture, American Academy of Arts and Letters
• 1989: Pritzker Architecture Prize
• 1992: Wolf Prize in Art, the Wolf Foundation
• 1992: Praemium Imperiale Award, Japan Art Association
• 1994: Dorothy and Lillian Gish Award for lifetime contribution to the arts
• 1998: National Medal of Arts
• 1998: Friedrich Kiesler Prize
• 1999: Lotos Medal of Merit, Lotos Club
• 1999: Gold Medal, American Institute of Architects
• 2000: Lifetime Achievement Award, Americans for the Arts
• More than 100 awards from the American Institute of Architects
• Numerous honorary doctorates and honorary titles

Quote from Frank Gehry:

"I approach each building as a sculptural object, a spatial container, a space with light and air, a response to context and appropriateness of feeling and spirit. To this container, this sculpture, the user brings his baggage, his program, and interacts with it to accommodate his needs. If he can't do that, I've failed."
-from the 1980 edition of "Contemporary Architects"

Contact Frank Gehry:

Visit the Web site for Gehry Parters for information about Frank Gehry, a listing of job openings at the firm, and contact information.

About Frank Gehry:

Inventive and irreverent, Frank Gehry has been surrounded by controversy for most of his career. Using unorthodox materials like corrugated metal and chain link, Gehry creates unexpected, twisted forms that break conventions of building design. His work has been called radical, playful, organic, and sensual.

Explore Frank Gehry's Life and Works

For an intimate look at Frank Gehry's creative process, see Conversations With Frank Gehry by journalist Barbara Isenberg. The book includes interiews with Gehry and a fascinating collection of sketches, renderings, and photographs of his works.

An interesting profile of Frank Gehry may also be seen in the documentary film Sketches of Frank Gehry. Directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Sydney Pollack, the film begins with Gehry's original project sketches. Through relaxed, intimate conversations with Frank Gehry, Pollack explores the process of turning those sketches into tangible, three-dimensional models (often made simply of cardboard and scotch tape) and, ultimately, into finished buildings.