The Titanium Genius of Architect Frank Gehry

By Marques Vickers

This edition features both the biography of architect Frank Gehry and extensive architectural photography from three of his works completed between 2000-2010.

Gehry’s professional path has followed a serpentine routing upon his family’s relocation to Los Angeles in 1947 from Toronto. An early design influence included a lecture that he attended by Finnish designer and architect Alvar Aalto at the University of Toronto. Aalto’s unique designs incorporating flowing gentle curves, playfulness and unconventional materials would become apparent amongst Gehry’s noteworthy commissions.

Gehry pursued studies in chemical engineering and was briefly a delivery truck driver before focusing his academic attention towards design. He graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Southern California in 1954. Afterwards he joined the military and then followed with city planning studies at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. He did not complete the program due to personal conflicts with the curriculum and certain professors.

Gehry began work with multiple architecture firms before establishing his own Southern California practice in 1967. He cultivated a distinctive base of regional commissions before elevating his public recognition with international projects. In 1997, he earned worldwide acclaim with his Guggenheim Museum design located in Bilbao, Spain. His seemingly fresh unrestrained style was introduced globally featuring an unconventional vision, elaborate detailing nuances and titanium clad building surface skins. The recognition vaulted him into architecture superstardom.

The triumph in Bilbao earned Gehry significant and desirable international commissions. He followed the project with significant accomplishments including the Walt Disney Concert Hall (Los Angeles), Jay Pritzker Pavilion (Chicago), New World Center (Miami Beach), Stata Center (MIT), Peter Lewis Library (Princeton University), Fondation Louis Vuitton (Paris), Lou Ruvo Center For Brian Health (Las Vegas), University of Technology (Sydney) and an astonishing roster of museum upgrades.

This book’s photography is concentrated on three of his projects, ranging from the highly celebrated Walt Disney Performance Center in downtown Los Angeles to the lesser-known Biloxi Ohr-O’Keefe Museum and often criticized Seattle based Museum of Pop Culture. The range of photography focuses upon the sub surface welded steel framework to examining the aging process of tinted and polished titanium exterior panels.

Titanium is an element that was discovered in 1790 and named after the Titans, earth giants documented in Greek mythology. Industrial production began following World War II. It was used primarily within the aerospace, chemical, and electric-power industries. The metal is lightweight, strong, flexible and critically important within inclement climates for its resistance to corrosion. Architects had used the material since the 1970s, but Gehry’s employment with the Guggenheim Museum made him the most visible practitioner.

Frank Gehry’s influence remains a defining icon for early twenty-first century architecture. His unique contribution into the fluid historical dialogue of architecture is important.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Marques Vickers
• Release date: Aug 31, 2023
• ISBN: 9798201148355

Marques Vickers

Visual Artist, Writer and Photographer Marques Vickers is a California native presently living in the San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle, Washington regions.He was born in 1957 and raised in Vallejo, California. He is a 1979 Business Administration graduate from Azusa Pacific University in the Los Angeles area. Following graduation, he became the Public Relations and ultimately Executive Director of the Burbank Chamber of Commerce between 1979-84. He subsequently became the Vice President of Sales for AsTRA Tours and Travel in Westwood between 1984-86.Following a one-year residence in Dijon, France where he studied at the University of Bourgogne, he began Marquis Enterprises in 1987. His company operations have included sports apparel exporting, travel and tour operations, wine brokering, publishing, rare book and collectibles reselling. He has established numerous e-commerce, barter exchange and art websites including MarquesV.com, ArtsInAmerica.com, InsiderSeriesBooks.com, DiscountVintages.com and WineScalper.com.Between 2005-2009, he relocated to the Languedoc region of southern France. He concentrated on his painting and sculptural work while restoring two 19th century stone village residences. His figurative painting, photography and sculptural works have been sold and exhibited internationally since 1986. He re-established his Pacific Coast residence in 2009 and has focused his creative productivity on writing and photography.His published works span a diverse variety of subjects including true crime, international travel, California wines, architecture, history, Southern France, Pacific Coast attractions, fiction, auctions, fine art marketing, poetry, fiction and photojournalism.He has two daughters, Charline and Caroline who presently reside in Europe.

Book preview

The Titanium Genius of

Architect Frank Gehry

Published By Marques Vickers at Smashwords

Copyright 2023

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Frank Gehry Biography

Walt Disney Concert Hall (Los Angeles)

Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art (Biloxi)

Museum of Pop Culture (Seattle)

About The Author

Frank Gehry has outlived his architectural contemporaries. Despite his pinnacle of success, retirement has never become an obsession or desirable option. He will create and contribute until he can no longer physically or mentally.

As with many creative and misunderstood spirits, he experienced early reproach for his unrealistic interests. His pragmatic and unimaginative father demeaned him as simply a dreamer, assured to advance nowhere with his misspent hours. His mother fortunately viewed him differently. She encouraged his creative pursuits and introduced him into the world of visual art.

From his grandfather and father’s hardware store, he would construct imaginative buildings, houses and futuristic cities. His materials were discards including corrugated steel, chain link fencing, plywood and wood scraps. These undesirable crumbs would ultimately become transformed into visionary feats of marvel and design. Their realization would remain theoretical until a future era when accompanying technology and financial resources were available.

Frank Gehry was born in Toronto, Canada during 1929 as Frank Owen Goldberg. His father changed the family name to Gehry