- Artist/Architect: Frank Gehry
- Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, CA
- Stainless Steel exterior
- Bounded by Hope Street, Grand Avenue, and 1st and 2nd Streets, and seating 2,265 people
- Completed in 2003
Based out of Los Angeles, Frank Owen
Gehry—born Frank Owen Goldberg on February 28, 1929—is a Canadian-American
architect. He is the recipient of many awards, including: the AIA Gold Medal,
National Medal of Arts, Order of Canada, Pritzker Prize, and the Praemium
Imperiale. A number of his buildings have world renowned tourist attractions.
In 2010, the World Architecture Survey cited a number of his buildings as being
some of the most important works of contemporary architecture, and Vanity Fair labeled him “the most
important architect of our age” (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Gehry).
Gehry’s work falls under the
category of Deconstructivism. Referred to post-structuralist in nature, it challenges
notions of traditional architecture in such a manner as to subvert its original
spatial intention. Gehry’s style can, at times, seem unfinished or even crude,
but this is just a part of the challenging nature of his works (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Gehry).
The Walt Disney Concert Hall began
with a $50 million gift from Lillian Disney. The purpose of this gift was to
provide a world class performance venue for the City of Los Angles, and to pay
tribute to Walt Disney’s devotion to the arts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney_Concert_Hall). With the sweeping and gleaming
design of its exterior, the building was at onetime jeered for being out-of-place
in the Los Angeles cityscape; but since its completion, the building has become
an iconic part of the city, similar to the sweeping, sail-like curves of the
Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia.
In his design, Gehry presented a
structure that challenged the image of an entire city. Instead of compromising to
the aesthetic wishes of critics, Gehry went forward with his plan, and challenged
his critics, and the City as a whole, to boldly move forward with him. After
completion, the building came to be praised as a challenging and groundbreaking
addition to Los Angeles culture.
No comments:
Post a Comment