Known for his extravagance and recognized for his concern for the environment and social issues, Frank Gehry is undeniably one of the greatest architects of his time.
Known for his extravagance and recognized for his concern for the environment and social issues, Frank Gehry is undeniably one of the greatest architects of his time.
Frank Gehry was born in 1929 in Toronto into a family that stimulated him to express his creativity. Encouraged to enter an art school, he graduated from the School of Architecture at the University of South California in 1954. He later tried to pursue his studies at Harvard but quickly realized that this environment did not correspond to his aspirations and socially responsible architectural projects.
In 1962 he created his own architectural firm in Los Angeles, a setting that allowed him to fully express the talent we know him and in particular his taste for metal monuments such as the impressive Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao or the Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Deconstructivism was born in 1988 during an exhibition at MOMA that included works by Frank Gehry, Daniel Libeskind and Zaha Hadid. This movement is, as its name suggests, derived from the term "deconstruction". First of all, it is an opposition to the methodical regularity of modernist architecture. But it is also the exaltation of the idea of a break with architectural tradition, whether social, historical or technological. The watchword of this movement is "inventing the impossible" by challenging the codes of perception of urban space.
Thus, we notice in Gehry's works a refusal to combine form and function (a fundamental principle of the modernist school that advocates efficiency). Buildings are not smooth, on the contrary they reflect a movement, sometimes of wave, sometimes of earthquake. The architect plays with the curves to give way to the spectator's imagination. For example, the Experience Music Project of the Pop Culture Museum may look like a half-opened gift with a packaging that floats in the wind.
For each of his creations, the architect first makes numerous models that evolve as the project design is refined, until a final model is produced. Even as a child, he used to build city models out of wood chips with his grandmother. For him, models are an essential tool in the study of volumes. For example, for the Louis Vuitton Foundation, he shaped his models by introducing large works of art into the galleries of the building in order to create the best possible space for museography (techniques for designing and organizing museums).
In terms of construction, Gehry is one of the pioneers in the use of applied 3D software. Gehry Technologies has even developed its own software called "Digital Project" which is based on aeronautical technology. This tool, used both in the design and construction phases, allows the realization of unique projects with asymmetrical volumes that make Gehry one of the greatest contemporary architects.
Speaking of his collaboration with the Louis Vuitton brand, the architect revealed at the 2023 edition of Art Basel Miami Beach a collection of bags revisiting the French luxury brand's famous Capucines model, based on his emblematic architectural creations.
The range will include 9 variations inspired, for example, by its IAC Building (New York), the Museum of Pop Culture (Seattle) or, for an even more surprising bag, its crocodile sculpture created for the London restaurant Sexy Fish.
There's no doubt that after the collaboration with Yayoi Kusama, and the buzz generated by a "robot" version of the Japanese artist painting her famous colored dots in the window of a Louis Vuitton New York boutique, this new artistic association between the brand and the American-Canadian won't leave anyone indifferent.
In any case, it proves that the star architect knows how to go from the very large to the very small, always with spectacular results.
To admire one of his works with your own eyes:
Auxane from Comme des Français
---
More content on great creators?
Crédit photo collection sac Capucines : © Louis Vuitton x Frank Gehry
