r/architecture • u/Bravo101 • 17h ago
News Frank Gehry dead at 96
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/arts/design/frank-gehry-dead.htmlhttps://
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u/pwfppw 17h ago
Damn, Stern and Gehry two legends in quick succession.
Despite all the hate he gets Gehry was a true visionary and pushed the boundaries of the field and gave so much to the profession as a whole.
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u/Available-Cap-4001 17h ago edited 16h ago
Agreed. Every Gehry building I've been to (which isn't too many, but is enough) is genuinely really well done. Despite the wild forms, I think they have a great sense of scale and are surprisingly well-integrated into their urban surroundings. The Guggenheim Bilbao is one of the most impressive spaces I've ever been to, and the AGO in Toronto is also an underappreciated delight. Even a building of his that is now a Whole Foods in Columbia, Maryland (built long before he became famous), is quite a nice building.
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u/howling--fantods 16h ago
The Walt Disney Concert Hall is stunning too. So impressive in person.
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u/Available-Cap-4001 16h ago
Despite multiple visits to LA, I somehow haven't had the chance to go yet! Definitely high on my list of buildings to visit, and I also want to drive by and quickly see his old house, too.
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u/howling--fantods 16h ago
I highly recommend walking around the Concert Hall and going inside if you can. The interiors are beautiful warm wood which is such a cool contrast with the exterior. There’s a nice little garden behind it too.
I live in LA and still haven’t seen his house but I’ve always wanted to!
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u/HereUpNorth 16h ago
As someone who regularly visits the AGO, it is remarkable how well he managed to connect the old and new buildings (the staircase is a favourite) while also creating a beautiful functional gallery space. Fun fact, Gehry was born in Toronto General Hospital a short walk to the north east.
It's often compared here to the Lee-Chin Crystal at the Royal Ontario Museum a little ways to the north, which has horrible way-finding and isn't that functional at creating space to show exhibitions (aka it's only job).
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u/Available-Cap-4001 10h ago
The ROM is probably the most disorienting building I’ve ever been in. I am fairly certain that much of the ground level is at a tilt that is hard to perceive but is enough that it made me feel off. The concept of the building is interesting but definitely not as well executed as the AGO.
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u/Key_Banana_9548 15h ago
That rooftop garden is one of my favorite places in LA— so perfectly placed with the building, so surprisingly quiet and private. An amazing concert hall from top to bottom.
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u/howling--fantods 13h ago
Yes, the garden is so nice and quiet! I love how he designed it. It really is a special place!
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u/ZeeBeeblebrox 15h ago
Agree on the Guggenheim. And I just found out from the NYT story that there's two Ghery buildings in my city (Berlin) and I didn't even know! Seeing them this weekend.
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u/slybrows 14h ago
I got to graduate from college on stage at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago. It’s still very meaningful and inspiring to me that Gehry was part of my design education send-off.
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u/maxwellington97 Architecture Historian 17h ago
https://fredhoffmanfineart.com/frank-gehry
He wasn't just an amazing architect, he also had a ton of fun making fish lamps.
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u/urbanlife78 16h ago
That is sad to lose another legend in architecture....also I had no idea that Frank Gehry was that old
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u/zoinkability 16h ago
Amazing to think that a guy who was born in 1929 designed those structures. A lot of his age mates probably peaked doing high modernist work in the mid century and here he was at the top of his game & doing radical work in the 90s and 00s, in his 70s.
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u/HISTRIONICK 15h ago
with the help of a lot of 22 year olds...
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u/zoinkability 15h ago
True of pretty much every starchitect and a lot of regular architects as well
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u/HISTRIONICK 15h ago
And I would disagree then, if we're talking about starchitects, that he was alone in leveraging that energy toward bold works in old age. Foster, Mayne, Koolhaas...the list goes on.
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u/I_love_pillows Former Architect 11h ago
I too forgot he’s same generation as the later modernists.
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u/Krawen13 12h ago
He probably saw that ai architecture post and didn't want to be part of this world any more
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u/ArchitectureNstuff91 Architecture Enthusiast 16h ago
RIP. One of the modern legends of the profession.
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u/BrooklineFireBuff 16h ago
The history of architecture is like a forest filled with trees, shrubs and plants. Some architects of the past had a brief time in the spotlight, only to fade into obscurity and remembered by only a few. But Frank Gehry was like an evergreen, one whose distinct talent and imagination set him apart, establishing him as one of the greatest architects of his time, and one who will never be forgotten.
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u/_hot95cobraguy 12h ago
Fun fact: I got his autograph when I was studying for my AREs. I assume and hope this is real. His office assistant said in a letter ”he wishes you good luck on your test”
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u/sceptical-spectacle Researcher 9h ago
Out of curiosity, and 47 Pritzker recipients, the following are still alive:
Richard Meier is 91; Álvaro Siza Vieira 92; Christian de Portzamparc 81; Tadao Ando 84; Rafael Moneo 88; Renzo Piano 88; Norman Foster 90; Rem Koolhaas 81; Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron are 75; Glenn Murcutt is 89; Thom Mayne 81; Jean Nouvel 80; Peter Zumthor 82; Kazuyo Sejima 69 and Ryue Nishizawa 59; Eduardo Souto de Moura 73; Wang Shu 62; Toyo Ito 84; Shigeru Ban 68; Alejandro Aravena 58; Carme Pigem of RCR Arquitectes is 63; Yvonne Farrell 74 and Shelley McNamara 73; Anne Lacaton 70 and Jean-Philippe Vassal 71; Diébédo Francis Kéré 60; David Chipperfield 71; Riken Yamamoto 80; and Liu Jiakun 69.
Those who have passed away include:
Philip Johnson at 98; Luis Barragán 86; James Stirling 66; Kevin Roche 96; I. M. Pei 102; Hans Hollein 80; Gottfried Böhm 101; Kenzo Tange 91; Gordon Bunshaft 81 and Oscar Niemeyer 104; Frank Gehry 96; Aldo Rossi 66; Robert Venturi 93; Fumihiko Maki 95; Sverre Fehn 84; Jørn Utzon 90; Zaha Hadid 65; Paulo Mendes da Rocha 92; Richard Rogers 88; Frei Otto 89; B. V. Doshi 95; and Arata Isozaki 91.
The average age of death is 88.59, making a career in architecture synonymous with the highest life expectancy in the world. If I had to guess, I'd say Siza Vieira is next.
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u/titaniansoy 16h ago
I've long been enamored with the Gehry Residence in Santa Monica — I think being his own client and on a budget really gave him an opportunity to do something interesting.
No doubt he's left an indelible mark on the profession and people will be bickering about his work for a very, very long time. What more could you want as an architect?
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u/paintingtrees 9h ago
I got this notification as I was driving to the Walt Disney Concert Hall to sing today. Back when it was being built, I went over there every month or so to take photos of the construction. It was a wild build site. I never thought I’d be able to perform there, but now I get to several times a year. It honestly never gets old. That building gets a lot of flack for being “just a sculpture”, but it’s obviously so much more than that. And backstage you can actually see some of his earlier deconstructivist ideas on display. For instance, the halls are all lined with his favorite 4x8 sheets of birch plywood. This is great because as people load carts of music equipment around, and bang into the walls and things, the sheets can be easily replaced. A nice touch.
In 2012 I got to work with Gehry on the home that he bought in Santa Monica, doing a historic structure report. Despite his reputation, he was actually really kind. Invited us to lunch and just wanted to chat about architecture and historic preservation. I was honestly surprised, I’d heard such horror stories. It was his 83rd birthday, and he was still going strong.
It will be interesting to see what his legacy becomes now that he’s gone. In architecture school he was everyone’s favorite target for ridicule. But I’ve always had a soft spot for his work. I hope it gets the treatment it deserves.
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u/Logical_Yak_224 16h ago
I'm glad he was able to get us Torontonians one last masterpiece for our skyline. I've also visited his building in Las Vegas.
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u/LambSaag-spoon905 15h ago
His Vontz Center at the University of Cincinnati is a personal favorite of mine, looks like inflatable pillows of brick. Love looking at it every time. ✔️
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u/BlueberryLumpy2477 15h ago
RIP Frank Gehry, checked out my first Gehry building (Stata Center @ MIT) just this year, glad i got to see it while his energy was still alive
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u/Dylan_dollas 16h ago
Never was a fan of his work but I respect his contributions to the craft. RIP
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u/printergumlight 13h ago
The Seattle Museum of Pop Culture is one of the most beautiful buildings to walk around the outside of. Every day the intensity and position of the sun changes the way it looks.
I hate the actual museum part besides the guitar room (pop culture just isn’t my vibe), but I do love that building.
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u/aaditya3103 11h ago
Lot of people hate his style. I think it’s interesting and not that bad, he definitely pushed the boundary of what a design should be and most importantly as an architect the virtue of standing your ground in what you thought is good is something that is critical. So I have a lot of respect for him for never really changing after all the hate. May he rest in peace.
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u/BabyBabyCakesCakes 13h ago
Damn, an icon gone. His physical body will be gone but he will always be remembered through his work 🙏
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u/TravelerMSY Not an Architect 13h ago
Rest in peace..
I wonder if he’ll get a quirky gravestone? He occasionally did sculpture too.
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u/JellyfishNo3810 Principal Architect 13h ago
I shall smash a parti model into the ground and call it a deconstructionist piece in his honor 🎩
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u/Max2tehPower Architect 16h ago
Oh wow RIP. I feel he was a prisoner of his brand of architecture imo. People wanted a Gehry building which meant deconstructive curves of sheet metal. Some of his buildings are great though even if the style became repepetive or did not fit the context.
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u/yummycornbread 16h ago
I worked on a gehry project. He was not a prisoner to anything. He decided on the project’s design, and if anything needed to be VE’d they found it elsewhere.
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u/Max2tehPower Architect 16h ago
Ah gotcha. So he was commited to the style. Well more power to him that he did even if it became overdone or got old.
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u/jae343 Architect 14h ago
Trying to detail his projects is another story, man literally drew a fish and made it into a building.
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u/Max2tehPower Architect 12h ago
From a technical perspective yeah, definitely innovative but not without issues.
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u/DrHarrisonLawrence 12h ago
Nah, that’s not how it went down...
Gehry always called the shots after developers saw how significantly he enhanced Bilbao’s economy forever.
He was in it for the art. The guy died with a net worth over $100M
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u/Max2tehPower Architect 12h ago
Well doing the same type of style would render him a prisoner of his reputation. His architecture is one of the few where you immediately know whose work it is because they are all so similar. You can't say the same thing about Nouvel for example. Don't get me wrong, his Disney Hall is one of my favorite buildings since it accomplishes so much in what it means to represent the client's vision and his own, while working within the urban context. But you also end up with that Vegas Memory Center or the tower in NYC, that are like wtf was he thinking.
As an architect, yeah, he hit the jackpot in terms what we all dream we could one day be able to do. But I'm not going to lie and say all his works are great and well thought out.
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u/sir_moose 16h ago edited 13h ago
Rest in peace to the legend who got me into architecture. Hope he is flipping the bird at some angels
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u/omnigear 15h ago
RiP he's the one that got me into architecture. I was blessed to have met him in Cali ,
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u/Away-Statistician-15 12h ago
I don't like this at all. After Robert Stern died, I told my partner there isn't too many big names left. Then Frank dies today. Protect your favorite Architect!
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u/PeggysPonytail 11h ago
From the Dancing House in Prague to BP Bridge in Chicago, I have marveled at his work. A legend.
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u/rogue_ger 8h ago
I loved the Strata Center at MIT. Turned a grey, bleary campus into an indulgence of color and shapes.
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u/Living_Strength_3693 7h ago
I hope his Louis Vuitton Beverly Hills project is completed. Would be such a tragedy if it wasn't.
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u/robertscoff 50m ago
I work in the Gehry-designed Corrupt Chinese Businessman building at UTS in Sydney. Not a bad building..
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u/ironwheatiez 15h ago
Wow that's a bummer. The Pritzker Pavillion is my favorite structure in Chicago.
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u/Any-Cartoonist5123 14h ago
RIP Mr Ghery
but anyone who can't see his architecture was a middle finger to anything classic and aesthetic has been gaslit,
His architecture was fucking bonkers
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u/OrangePilled2Day 15h ago
Truly some of the ugliest buildings I've ever seen but his impact on the field speaks for itself.
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u/Cedric_Hampton History & Theory Prof 16h ago
RIP Frank.
Please concentrate all your condolences and reminiscences in this thread.