Frank Gehry (1929 - )
Lifespan: 1929 -
Related: architecture - postmodern architecture
Frank Gehry, Architect (2001) - Frank O. Gehry, J. Fiona Ragheb
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Guggenheim museum, Bilbao, Spain by Frank Gehry
Photograph sourced here.The tortured, warped forms of Frank Gehry's structures are sometimes considered to fall under the deconstructivist, also known as the "DeCon" school of postmodernist architecture, although Gehry himself disavows any association with the movement and claims no formal association to any particular architectural movement in general. Some historians nonetheless continue to classify Gehry's architecture as deconstructivist, whether or not he may have been consciously aware of its inclinations. [1]
Biography
Frank Owen Gehry (born Ephraim Goldberg on February 28, 1929) is an architect known for his interesting use of metal sheathing for his buildings. He was born in Toronto, Canada, but moved to California at age 17 where he graduated from the University of Southern California School of Architecture. He is today a naturalized American citizen and lives in Los Angeles. He is best known for building curvaceous structures, often covered with reflective metal. His most famous work, and the clearest expression of his style, is the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, which is covered in titanium. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Gehry [Feb 2005]Books
Frank Gehry, Architect (2001) - Frank O. Gehry, J. Fiona Ragheb
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Frank Gehry represents a paradox in architecture. Embraced by established financial and cultural institutions, his work is also viewed as avant-garde. Gehry first drew notice with his original use of ordinary materials, then progressed to nonorthogonal undulating forms, often employing a reflective titanium cladding. His highly sculptural buildings develop from lively, fluid sketches and study models that often include crumpled paper. All of this is ably presented in an exhibition at New York's Guggenheim Museum, for which this publication is the exhibition catalog. The primary didactic materials from the exhibition form the text, supplemented by five important essays: Mildred Friedman writes on the scope of Gehry's career, Beatriz Colomina offers an exhaustive analysis of his Santa Monica house, Cohen examines his urban work, J. Fiona Ragheb provides a comparison of Wright's and Gehry's approaches to form, and William J. Mitchell explains Gehry's dependence on computer-assisted design and modeling. Although the color illustrations are lavish, the photographs of models are poorly resolved, and there are virtually no floor plans. The book complements but does not supersede Francesco Dal Co and Kurt W. Forster's more discerning Frank O. Gehry: The Complete Works (Monacelli, 1998); nonetheless, this volume should be acquired by larger architecture collections. Paul Glassman, New York Sch. of Interior Design Lib. Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc, amazon.com