The architectural world bids farewell to a titan, as Frank Gehry, the mastermind of some of the planet's most distinctive buildings, died at the age of 96. Gehry, who breathed his last yesterday at his Santa Monica residence after a short respiratory illness, was renowned for his work that reached far beyond the norm of contemporary architecture. He left a footprint across major cities with his iconic designs, from the sinuous forms of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, to the metal-clad waves of The Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, as reported by News 3 Las Vegas.
Las Vegas too beheld the Gehry magic in the form of the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, a structural melody of design and purpose that symbolized hope and employed an exhausting 65,000 hours of engineering, 145,000 shop drawing sheets, 30,000 steel bolts and 18,000 stainless steel shingles in its construction and that's according to the Keep Memory Alive Event Center's website.
Meaghan Lloyd, chief of staff at Gehry Partners LLP, confirmed the architect's death, noting his small respiratory illness that led to his passing. Gehry's journey in the realm of architecture saw him garnishing every accolade available including the prestigious Pritzker Prize, the Royal Institute of British Architects gold medal, and the Companion of the Order of Canada; his repertoire and contributions to the architectural world were immense, with an unwavering start by Gehry's fascination with modern pop art that catalyzed a career of creating striking and inventive spaces, as per details from FOX5 Las Vegas.
Gehry's influence spanned more than just public and cultural buildings, he also extended his unique touch to the tech realm at the behest of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg with an expansion for the social media giant's Northern California headquarters. Gehry's bold strokes in architectural design language were "refreshingly original and totally American," earning him the highest honors in the field and a lifetime achievement award from Americans for the Arts. His designs cut across the grain of traditional form to be emblematic emblems of possibility and inventiveness in an often rigid field, as noted by FOX5 Las Vegas.
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