Bold, innovative, experimental. If anything, all these qualities are represented in some of the 21st century’s most celebrated architectural designs. While there’s so much more to a building than its surface, today’s developing technologies offer all sorts of structural and materialistic possibilities; most of which are instantly appreciated through a design’s exterior. Besides structural matters, these advancements have proved to be beneficial in facilitating the creation of massive, yet highly abstract, design ideas. Such is the case for Frank Gehry, an architect whose work is considered by many to be the peak, not only of 21st century design, but also of Deconstructivism as a movement.
Through the use of varying scales and twisting geometries, Gehry’s architecture becomes the antithesis of modernism and its grids, repetition of elements and rectangular floor plans. However, his designs do not only express stylistic postures; they also speak volumes regarding design concepts and even artistic license, which may explain why his designs are better understood as massive art installations in and of themselves. The malleability of metal, one of the common denominators among his designs, characterizes the buildings with the distinctive Gehry label; a feature completely independent from the building’s site. While modernist, and even contemporary postmodernist designers such as Rafael Moneo, generated designs around an individual project’s site, Gehry seems to be the exact opposite. This doesn’t mean his process is wrong or incorrect process; after all, such considerations are highly subjective. What does become clear is that a new style is surfacing, where form does not necessarily demonstrate function.
An example of his creative vision can be appreciated at the home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic: the Walt Disney Concert Hall, finished in 2003. Contrasting against the city’s more traditional buildings and skyscrapers, the Concert Hall is a conceptual abstraction of a boat’s sails, a feature that highlights its poetic movement despite its metallic bulkiness. But the wonder of the Concert Hall is not exclusive to the exterior; the interior, and its original function as a performance venue, adapts perfectly to its ambitious shell. Curvilinear shapes are present everywhere; from the walls, to the acoustic panels, to the audience seating (which accommodates up to 2,265 people), deviating from the traditional shoebox concert hall. Besides its impressive acoustic properties, the concert hall quite literally fuses architecture and music in the shape of a custom-built organ designed to complement the hall’s abstract interior.
Frank Gehry’s creations may spark all sorts of positive and negative reactions, but his legacy to both present and future architecture is greater than anyone’s opinion of him. Similar to the stereotypical Mad Scientist trope, his ideas (and experiments) are often ambitiously eccentric, but his conceptual mastery brings them to life. By challenging the norms of what should be considered architecture, and closing the gap between art and structure, innovation is already taking place. As society moves towards new technologies and lifestyles, it’s inevitable to see a significant change in architecture as well, which is in turn, aided by design software to make the seemingly impossible possible.
References:
Acoustics: Walt Disney Concert Hall 10th Anniversary. (n.d.). Retrieved December 08, 2020, from http://wdch10.laphil.com/wdch/acoustics.html
Aspden, P. (2013, November 22). Interview: Frank Gehry. Retrieved December 08, 2020, from https://www.ft.com/content/1c87963c-51cb-11e3-8c42-00144feabdc0?utm_medium=website
Nyawara, B. (2020, November 08). The Walt Disney Concert Hall, Frank Gehry's Curvaceous, Stainless Steel in Los Angeles. Retrieved December 08, 2020, from https://www.archute.com/the-walt-disney-concert-hall-frank-gherys-curvaceous-stainless-steel-in-los-angeles/
Pollack, S. (Director). (2006). Sketches of Frank Gehry. United States: Sony Pictures Classics.
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