FRANK OWEN GEHRY "Every building is by its very nature a sculpture. You can't help it. Sculpture is a three-dimensional object and so is a building.“ ASSIGNMENT NO. : 2 BY : (3-C) JYOTI AHLAWAT SAJIDA SHAHNUM SNIGDHA KHANEJA TSERING CHOEZOM
“I APPROACH EACH BUILDING AS A SCULPTURAL OBJECT, A SPATIAL CONTAINER, A SPACE WITH LIGHT AND AIR, A RESPONSE TO CONTEXT AND APPROPRIATENESS OF FEELING AND SPIRIT. TO THIS CONTAINER, THIS SCULPTURE, THE USER BEGINS HIS BAGGAGE, HIS PROGRAM, AND INTERACTS WITH IT TO ACCOMMODATE HIS NEEDS. IF HE CAN’T DO THAT, I’VE FAILED.” GEHRY WAS BORN FRANK OWEN GOLDBERG ON FEBRUARY 28, 1929, IN TORONTO, ONTARIO. HE WAS A TRUCK DRIVER IN L.A., GOING TO CITY COLLEGE, AND HE TRIED RADIO ANNOUNCING, WHICH HE WASN'T VERY GOOD AT. DURING THAT TIME, HE BECAME A MEMBER OF ALPHA EPSILON PI. HE TRIED CHEMICAL ENGINEERING, WHICH HE WASN'T VERY GOOD AT AND DIDN'T LIKE, THAN HE TRIED SOME ARCHITECTURE CLASSES. GEHRY GRADUATED AT THE TOP OF HIS CLASS WITH A BACHELOR OF ARCHITECTURE DEGREE FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA'S SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE IN 1954. IN 1952 HE MARRIED ANITA SNYDER, AND IN 1956 HE CHANGED HIS NAME TO FRANK O. GEHRY AT HER SUGGESTION. HE SPENT TIME AWAY FROM THE FIELD OF ARCHITECTURE IN NUMEROUS OTHER JOBS, INCLUDING SERVICE IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY. IN 2004, HE DESIGNED THE TROPHY FOR THE WORLD CUP OF HOCKEY. HIS LIFE HOCKEY WORLD CUP TROPHY HIS INPIRATION HE WOULD SPEND TIME DRAWING WITH HIS FATHER AND HIS MOTHER INTRODUCED HIM TO THE WORLD OF ART. "SO THE CREATIVE GENES WERE THERE“ HE WAS ENCOURAGED BY HIS GRANDMOTHER, MRS. CAPLAN, WITH WHOM HE WOULD BUILD LITTLE CITIES OUT OF SCRAPS OF WOOD FROM HER HUSBAND’S HARDWARE STORE. DRAWN TO THE SOCIAL ISSUES, ARCHITECTURE IS THE PANACEA FOR CITIES FUTURES FRANK OWEN GEHRY
DESIGN THEME and PHILOSOPHY ALTHOUGH FRANK GEHRY DOES NOT PERSONALLY ASSOCIATE WITH THE MOVEMENT, CRITICS PRIMARILY CONSIDER HIS DESIGN PHILOSOPHY TO BE DECONSTRUCTIVISM , AN APPROACH CHARACTERIZED BY FRAGMENTATION AND DISTORTIONS OF TRADITIONAL STRUCTURE, INFORMED BY HIS BELIEF THAT ALL ARTISTS SHOULD BE TRUE TO THEMSELVES. PHILOSOPHICALLY, DECONSTRUCTIVISM COMES AS A CRITICAL RESPONSE TO MODERNISM, IN WHICH THE FORM OF A BUILDING IS EXPECTED TO FOLLOW STRICTLY FROM ITS FUNCTION. USE OF ASYMMETRY, EXAGGERATED PROPORTIONS AND UNCONVENTIONAL MATERIALS. MODERNIST BUILDINGS, EPITOMIZED BY RECTANGULAR STEEL AND GLASS, ELIMINATION OF UNNECESSARY DETAIL AND ADHERENCE TO RIGID GEOMETRIC NORMS. MODERNIST ARCHITECTURE REFLECTS CONTEMPORARY PHILOSOPHIES REGARDING SOCIAL HARMONY AND MACHINE-LIKE ORGANIZATION. DECONSTRUCTIVISM IS THUS CALLED AS IT ATTEMPTS TO DESTABILIZE MODERNIST THINKING BY BREAKING UP DESIGN INTO HIGHLY STYLIZED, INDIVIDUAL PARTS. THE GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM IN BALBOA, SPAIN, GEHRY’S MOST ICONIC WORK, FEATURES AN EXTERIOR OF TITANIUM, GLASS AND LIMESTONE THAT IS BOTH RECTANGULAR AND TRADITIONAL AND ALSO DRAMATICALLY CURVED AND FOLDED. GEHRY’S ARCHITECTURE HAS UNDERGONE A MARKED EVOLUTION FROM THE PLYWOOD AND CORRUGATED-METAL VERNACULAR OF HIS EARLY WORKS TO THE DISTORTED BUT PRISTINE CONCRETE OF HIS LATER WORKS. HOWEVER, THE WORKS RETAIN A DECONSTRUCTED AESTHETIC THAT FITS WELL WITH THE INCREASINGLY DISJOINTED CULTURE TO WHICH THEY BELONG.
CRITICISM GEHRY'S WORK HAS ITS DETRACTORS. SOME HAVE SAID • THE BUILDINGS WASTE STRUCTURAL RESOURCES BY CREATING FUNCTIONLESS FORMS. THE BUILDINGS ARE APPARENTLY DESIGNED WITHOUT ACCOUNTING FO THE LOCAL CLIMATE. THE SPECTACLE OF A BUILDING OFTEN OVERWHELMS ITS INTENDED USE, ESPECIALLY IN THE CASE OF MUSEUMS AND ARENAS. THE BUILDINGS DO NOT SEEM TO BELONG IN THEIR SURROUNDINGS. GEHRY WAS INTERESTED IN THE FORM OF A FISH, AND THE NOTION OF BRINGING MOVEMENT INTO HIS ARCHITECTURE, IT WAS HIS WAY OF EXPLORING THE TECHNIQUE OF DOUBLE CURVES AS A YOUNG BOY HE HAS MEMORIES OF GOING TO THE MARKETPLACE WITH HIS GRANDPARENTS AND PURCHASING CARP Port Olympic , Barcelona Spain , 1992 Walt Disney Concert Hall (Interior) - Frank Gehry - 2003 THE FRAME HOUSES BOTH REGULAR AND IRREGULAR GALLERY SHAPES WITHIN. THE BLEND OF CLASSIC AND DISTORTED FIGURES IN GEHRY'S WORK FRAGMENTS BUILDINGS INTO ELEMENTS VISUALLY AT ODDS WITH ONE ANOTHER AND WITH THEIR RESPECTIVE ENVIRONMENTS. GEHRY INTENDS THIS ELABORATE APPROACH TO DESIGN TO GREATLY IMPRINT HIS BUILDINGS IN LOCAL CULTURE. GEHRY’S STYLE AT TIMES SEEMS UNFINISHED OR EVEN CRUDE, BUT HIS WORK IS CONSISTENT WITH THE CALIFORNIA ‘FUNK’ ART MOVEMENT IN THE 1960S AND EARLY 1970S, WHICH FEATURED THE USE OF INEXPENSIVE FOUND OBJECTS AND NON-TRADITIONAL MEDIA SUCH AS CLAY TO MAKE SERIOUS ART. GEHRY HAS BEEN CALLED " THE APOSTLE OF CHAIN-LINK FENCING AND CORRUGATED METAL SIDING ”. HOWEVER, A RETROSPECTIVE EXHIBIT AT NEW YORK'S WHITNEY MUSEUM IN 1988 REVEALED THAT HE IS ALSO A SOPHISTICATED CLASSICAL ARTIST, WHO KNOWS EUROPEAN ART HISTORY AND CONTEMPORARY SCULPTURE AND PAINTING DESIGN THEME and PHILOSOPHY
2000 1999 1997 1996 DANCING HOUSE, CRECZH REPUBLIC GUGGENHEIM MEUSEUM, SPAIN WALT DISNEY CONCRETE HALL , LA,USA GEHRY TOWER, SPORT DEPARTMENT BUILDING,HANOVER,GERMANY
2007 2007 2004 2005 JAY PRITZKER PAVILLION, CHICAGO MARTE HERFORD, ART MUSEUM,GERMANY GUGGENHIEM ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES IAC BUILDING, INTERACTIVECORP’S HEADQUATER,NEWYORK
2011 2011 2007 LOU RUVO CENTRE FOR BRAIN HEALTH, CHICAGO 8 SPRUCE STREET, NEWYORK NEW WORLD CENTRE, FLORIDA ,TORONTO
Dancing House in Prague(CZECH REPUBLIC) "Ginger and Fred”
THE SITE OF GEHRY'S DANCING HOUSE WAS ORIGINALLY OCCUPIED BY A HOUSE IN THE NEO-RENAISSANCE STYLE FROM THE END OF THE 1 9TH CENTURY. THAT HOUSE WAS DESTROYED DURING BOMBING IN 1945, ITS REMAINS FINALLY REMOVED IN 1960. THE CONSTRUCTION STARTED ` IN 1994 AND THE HOUSE WAS FINISHED IN 1996. THE BUILDING IS AN EXAMPLE OF DECONSTRUCTIVE ARCHITECTURE, WITH AN UNUSUAL SHAPE. IT REFLECTS A WOMAN AND MAN (GINGER ROGERS AND FRED ASTAIR) DANCING TOGETHER. CONSTRUCTION IS FROM 99 CONCRETE PANELS EACH OF DIFFERENT SHAPE AND DIMENSION , EACH THEREFORE REQUIRING A UNIQUE WOODEN FORM . IT REPRESENTS TWO DANCERS FRED ASTAIRE AND GINGER ROGERS – THAT´S WHY IT´S ALSO CALLED “GINGER AND FRED” . THE GLASS TOWER GINGER BENDS AND CLINGS TO THE CONCRETE TOWER FRED, WHICH HAS A METAL CUPOLA ON THE TOP, REPRESENTING HAIR. THE HOUSE IS AN EXAMPLE OF A DECONSTRUCTIVE ARCHITECTURE. PLAN AREA OPEN TO PUBLIC CUPOLA RESEMBLING HAIRS RESTAURENT AREA “Ginger and Fred ” Dancing on the riverside THE TOP FLOOR OF DANCING HOUSE IS THE ONLY PART OPEN TO THE PUBLIC, AND IS HOME TO ONE OF THE CITY'S LEADING RESTAURANTS. FOR THE REASON ALREADY GIVEN, IT IS CALLED THE GINGER & FRED RESTAURANT. THE DANCING HOUSE HAS TWO CENTRAL BODIES THE FIRST IS A TOWER OF GLASS THAT IS CLOSE TO HALF HEIGHT AND IS SUPPORTED BY CURVED PILLARS, THE SECOND RUNS PARALLEL TO THE RIVER, WHICH IS CHARACTERIZED BY THE MOLDINGS THAT FOLLOW A WAVY MOTION AND DISTRIBUTED THROUGH THE WINDOWS SO THE NON-ALIGNED.
the GUGGENHIUM MUSUEM Frank O GEHRY GUGGENHIUM MUSUEM in BILBAO , SPAIN (1997)
GUGGENHIUM MUSUEM , SPAIN FRANK GEHRY, 1997 THE GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM BILBAO IS A MUSEUM OF MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ART AND LOCATED IN BILBAO, BASQUE COUNTRY, SPAIN. IT IS BUILT ALONGSIDE THE NERVION RIVER IN OCTOBER 18, 1997, WHICH RUNS THROUGH THE CITY OF BILBAO TO THE ATLANTIC COAST. THE MUSEUM IS CLAD IN GLASS, TITANIUM AND LIMESTONE. RANDOMNESS OF THE CURVES ARE DESIGNED TO CATCH THE LIGHT. LOOKS OF THE BUILDING ARE VERY CALM AND UNINTERACTIVE AS THERE ARE NO WINDOWS BUT BLANK WALLS. BRILLIANTLY REFLECTIVE TITANIUM PANELS RESEMBLE FISH SCALES. PLAN RIVER WALK VIEW FROM CAMPO VOLATIN FOOT BRIDGE ENTRANCE TO THE MUSUEM PLANS OF GUGGENHIUM MUSUEM , SPAIN FIRST FLOOR PLAN THIRD FLOOR PLAN
THE CONCEPT SITED AS IT IS IN A PORT TOWN, IT IS INTENDED TO RESEMBLE A SHIP. ATRIUM Atrium surrounded by exhibition galleries THE ATRIUM IS THE REAL HEART OF THE MUSEUM AND ONE OF THE MOST IDIOSYNCRATIC FEATURES OF GEHRY´S DESIGN. THE ATRIUM´S REMARKABLE HEIGHT (55 M) IS ONE AND HALF TIMES THAT OF FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT´S GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM IN NY. GALLERIES EXHIBITION SPACE IS DISTRIBUTED IN 19 GALLERIES. TEN HAVING REGULAR SHAPE WITH STONE FINISH , NINE OTHER HAVE IRREGULAR SHAPE AND HAVE TITANIUM FINISH. RECTANGULAR LOFTS UNDER SKY LIGHT PARTITION CUM DISPLAY WALLS IN MUSUEM ELEMENTS USED FOR DAY LIGHTING ATRIUM ART GALLERIES EXHIBITION HALL