LOS ANGELES (AP) — Groundbreaking architect Frank Gehry, who died Friday at age 96, was known for designing some of…
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Groundbreaking architect Frank Gehry, who died Friday at age 96, was known for designing some of the most imaginative buildings ever constructed. Over the course of his career, he was awarded every major prize architecture has to offer — including the field’s top honor, the Pritzker Prize, for what has been described as “refreshingly original and totally American” work.
Here’s a closer look at some of his renowned buildings.
Louis Vuitton Foundation, Paris
The art museum, which opened in the Bois de Boulogne park along Paris’ western edge in 2014, describes Gehry’s design on its website as “a magnificent vessel for Paris.”
Gehry was inspired by late 19th-century glass and garden architecture, and the building “fits easily into the natural environment, between woods and garden, while at the same time playing with light and mirror effects,” the museum’s website says.
“The choice of materials became self-evident: an envelope of glass would cover the body of the building, an assembly of blocks referred to as the ‘iceberg’, and would give it its volume and its vitality.”
Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain
The museum of modern and contemporary art, which opened in 1997 along the Nervion River, is one of Gehry’s most celebrated works. Made of titanium, limestone and glass, the building has become an iconic attraction and drew 1.3 million visitors last year, according to the museum’s website. The exterior features curves, and the museum’s website describes the atrium as “crowned with a metallic flower over its skylight.”
New World Center, Miami
The concert hall, described on its website as an “architectural gem,” opened in 2011. Home to the New World Symphony, an orchestral academy, its atrium features “cascading geometric shapes, curved surfaces and a vaulted ceiling with six stories of natural light,” while the performance hall is known for its “technical capabilities and acoustic integrity,” its website says.
His long friendship with the symphony’s co-founder and artistic director laureate, Michael Tilson Thomas, fueled his enthusiasm for the project, the center said Friday in a statement mourning Gehry’s passing.
“When Frank Gehry first stepped into the completed New World Center, he told reporters he wept” as he watched rehearsals with Tilson Thomas, the statement said, because he knew it was special.
8 Spruce, New York
At 76 stories high, this was Gehry’s first skyscraper. The building opened in 2011 in Manhattan’s Financial District as a “striking masterpiece of architectural design where artful living meets practicality and purpose,” its website says, adding that it was the tallest residential building in the Western Hemisphere at the time of construction.
Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles
Located in the city’s downtown and home to the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, the building opened in 2003.
In a press release before the opening, the “glistening, curved exterior” was described as embodying “the energy, innovation, and creative spirit of the city of Los Angeles and its orchestra.” The interior seeks to amplify concertgoers’ experience of “the power and passion of music.”
“The outside of the building was designed to reflect the aesthetic of the inside, which in itself evolved according to the highest acoustical standards,” Gehry was quoted as saying in the press release.
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