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Frank Gehry facts for kids

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Frank Gehry

CC FAIA
Turner 07 FGLecture2.JPG
Gehry in 2007
Born
Frank Owen Goldberg

(1929-02-28) February 28, 1929 (age 96)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Citizenship
  • Canada
  • United States
Occupation Architect
Spouse(s)
Anita Snyder
​
​
(m. 1952; div. 1966)​
Berta Isabel Aguilera
​
(m. 1975)​
Children 4
Awards List of awards
Practice Gehry Partners, LLP
Buildings List of works

Frank Owen Gehry (born Frank Owen Goldberg on February 28, 1929) is a famous Canadian-American architect and designer. Many of his buildings have become popular tourist attractions because of their unique and surprising shapes. You might have seen his work without even knowing it!

Gehry's buildings often look like giant sculptures. He is known for using unusual materials like shiny metal, chain-link fences, and raw plywood. His style is sometimes called deconstructivist, which is like taking a normal building and playfully breaking it apart and reassembling it in a new way. Vanity Fair magazine once called him "the most important architect of our age."

Some of his most famous creations are the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Spain, which looks like a shimmering metal ship, and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, with its giant, curved stainless steel sails. He also designed the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris and the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial in Washington, D.C. For his amazing work, Gehry has won many top awards, including the Pritzker Architecture Prize, which is like the Nobel Prize for architects.

Early Life and Inspiration

Gehry House - Image02
The Gehry Residence in Santa Monica, California, which Gehry redesigned himself.

Frank Gehry was born in Toronto, Canada. His parents, Irving and Sadie Goldberg, were of Polish-Jewish and Russian-Jewish heritage. As a child, he was very creative. His grandmother, Leah, would build imaginary cities with him on the floor using wood scraps from her husband's hardware store.

This early experience inspired his later work. Visiting his grandfather's hardware store made him interested in using "everyday" materials like corrugated steel and chain-link fencing in his buildings. His mother introduced him to art and music, while his father encouraged him to draw.

In 1947, his family moved to California. As a young man, Gehry drove a delivery truck and took classes at Los Angeles City College. He wasn't sure what he wanted to do, but he remembered how much he loved art and visiting museums. On a hunch, he took an architecture class and discovered his passion. In 1954, he changed his last name from Goldberg to Gehry.

Career as an Architect

052607-006-Chiat-Day
The Chiat/Day Building in Venice, California (1991) is famous for its giant pair of binoculars.
DSC09338 Frank Gehry Siedlung Schwanheim Goldstein
Public housing designed by Gehry in Frankfurt, Germany (1994).

After graduating from the University of Southern California, Gehry worked for various architecture firms. He even spent time in Paris learning from other architects. In 1962, he started his own architecture firm in Los Angeles.

One of his first famous projects was his own house in Santa Monica. He bought a regular pink house and wrapped it in a new, strange-looking shell of metal and glass. It showed the world his unique style and that he wasn't afraid to experiment.

Becoming World-Famous

In the 1980s and 1990s, Gehry's career took off. He designed the Chiat/Day Building in California, which has a giant pair of binoculars as its entrance. He also designed the Dancing House in Prague, which looks like two buildings dancing together.

His international fame exploded in 1997 with the opening of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Spain. The building, covered in wavy titanium panels, was hailed as a masterpiece. It was so successful that it completely transformed the city of Bilbao, attracting tourists and boosting the economy. This became known as the "Bilbao effect."

Major Projects Around the World

Fondation Louis Vuitton roof @ Mare Saint-James @ Bois de Boulogne @ Paris (28303477171)
The glass "sails" on the roof of the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, France (2016).
New World Center - Image01
The New World Center in Miami Beach, Florida (2011) is a concert hall for young musicians.

Gehry has designed many other incredible buildings.

  • Walt Disney Concert Hall (2003) in Los Angeles is a stunning concert hall with a bold, curving metal exterior.
  • Jay Pritzker Pavilion (2004) in Chicago is an outdoor concert space with a huge, ribbon-like steel structure over the stage.
  • 8 Spruce Street (2011) in New York City is a 76-story skyscraper with a wavy, stainless steel surface that looks like a flowing waterfall.
  • Fondation Louis Vuitton (2014) in Paris is an art museum that looks like a ship with twelve giant glass sails.
  • Dr Chau Chak Wing Building (2014) in Sydney, Australia, is often called the "crumpled paper bag" building because of its unique, flowing brick design.

Architectural Style

Bilbao - Guggenheim 43
The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Spain is one of Gehry's most famous works.

Gehry's style is hard to define. It's playful, sculptural, and always surprising. He doesn't follow traditional rules. Instead, he uses computers to help design very complex, curved shapes that were once impossible to build.

He is famous for using materials in new ways. He might use shiny titanium to make a building shimmer, or simple chain-link fencing to create interesting textures. His work shows that architecture can be a form of art.

Some critics say his buildings are too strange or that they don't fit in with their surroundings. However, many people love his work because it is exciting and fun. His buildings often become beloved landmarks that make people see architecture in a whole new light.

Other Designs

Ngv design, frank o. gehry, wiggle side chair, 1972
The Wiggle Side Chair, made from layers of cardboard.

Besides buildings, Gehry has designed many other things.

  • Furniture: He created a line of furniture called "Easy Edges" made from layers of cardboard. His "Wiggle Side Chair" is a famous example.
  • Jewelry: He designed several collections for the famous jewelry company Tiffany & Co.
  • Sculptures: Fish are a common theme in his work. He has created large fish sculptures and even lamps shaped like fish.
  • Trophies: As a big ice hockey fan, he designed the trophy for the World Cup of Hockey.

Personal Life

Gehry is a citizen of both the United States and Canada. He lives in Santa Monica, California, in the same house he famously redesigned decades ago.

He is a huge fan of ice hockey and even started a hockey league in his office. He is also an avid sailor. Gehry is known for being passionate about his work and has taught architecture at top universities like Yale, Harvard, and USC.

Images for kids

  • Beekman Tower fr BB jeh

    The tower at 8 Spruce Street in New York City is 76 stories high (2010).

  • Gehry Las Vegas

    The Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas, Nevada (2010).

Gallery of Famous Works

Awards and honors

Gehry is a senior fellow of the Design Futures Council and serves on the steering committee of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture.

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Frank Gehry para niños

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