Frank Gehry: The Latest Architecture and News

Over two decades in the making, Frank Gehry's design for the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial in Washington, D.C. will finally open to the public this Friday. A tribute to the 34th President of the United States, the memorial was commissioned by Congress in 1999 to honor the legacy of the World War II Supreme Allied Commander. Eisenhower is well known for leading the invasion of Normandy, a turning point in the war, and for serving two terms as President of United States.

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Atelier Vincent Hecht has released a series of recent photographs that document the construction status of Frank Gehry's Luma Arles Tower in the south of France. The twisting tower opening this spring will include artist studios, workshops, seminar rooms, and research facilities.

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The Pritzker Prize is the most important award in the field of architecture, awarded to a living architect whose built work "has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity through the art of architecture." The Prize rewards individuals, not entire offices, as took place in 2000 (when the jury selected Rem Koolhaas instead of his firm OMA) or in 2016 (with Alejandro Aravena selected instead of Elemental); however, the prize can also be awarded to multiple individuals working together, as took place in 2001 (Herzog & de Meuron), 2010 (Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of SANAA), and 2017 (Rafael Aranda, Carme Pigem, and Ramon Vilalta of RCR Arquitectes).

The Louis Vuitton Maison Seoul, imagined by architects Frank Gehry and Peter Marino has just opened in the South Korean capital. Celebrating Korean heritage and culture, the design puts in place a curved glass facade, perched atop a white cubic mass.

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On August 12, 1833, the Town of Chicago had roughly 200 inhabitants. Four years later, in 1837, it was upgraded to The City of Chicago – an interesting fact given that there are still 19 incorporated towns in Illinois. The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 killed 300 people, destroyed about 3.3 square miles (9 km2), and left more than 100,000 residents homeless. However, by that time Chicago had become the world’s fastest-growing city and its population had risen over 300,000 inhabitants. The fire meant these ambitious citizens had to start again.

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With admirable strength, the city was reborn from the ashes and some of Chicago’s best architecture was constructed immediately after. Structures like the Rookery Building (1888, Frank Lloyd Wright), the Auditorium Building (1889, Louis Sullivan) and the Monadnock Building (1893, Burnham & Root, Holabird & Roche) are a few examples of the high standards the city was aiming for.

Since then, Chicago has only continued adding value to its urban grid and new buildings have been progressively enhancing the city’s beautiful skyline. This year Chicago celebrates the 2019-2020 Biennial and the city has plenty to offer. But, where to start?

If you love architecture, here is a list of buildings – old and new – that will help you understand, internalize and love Chicago’s built environment.

Shall we begin?

This article was originally published in Metropolismag.com.

Set to screen at the ADFF:NOLA festival, Frank Gehry: Building Justice showcases how Gehry-led student architecture studios developed proposals for more humane prisons.

Thanks to initiatives like the Art for Justice Fund, Open Society Foundations, and a slew of insightful reporting, the American criminal justice system has been under great scrutiny and pressure to reform. Some of these changes have been quite prominent—such as the increasingly-widespread decriminalization of pot and pending major federal legislation—and have faced opposition from the powerful lobbying of the private prison corporations. However, despite the depth and breadth of criminal justice reform, one critically important element has remained mostly overlooked: the design of correctional facilities.

WSJ. Magazine recently visited the studio of Frank Gehry to explore his life, work and his plans for the future. As one of the world's most famous architects, Gehry and his work are intrinsically linked to Los Angeles. Today, he chooses from many proposals for the projects he wants to take on. Gehry discusses his early love for Los Angeles architecture and wood-framed housing, as well as his insecurities and some of his most famous projects.

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Gehry Partners has unveiled renderings for a new 800,000-square-foot Warner Bros. Headquarters in Burbank, California. The project will include two new buildings designed to be "like icebergs floating along the freeway." Gehry Partners is working with Worthe Real Estate Group and Stockbridge Real Estate Fund to finish the new office buildings in time for Warner Bros.’ centennial celebrations in 2023.

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Architecture, unlike other aspects of culture (such as fashion or music), can only really be experienced and understood in person. For highly branded companies, designing a new building can be a prime opportunity to signal taste and values - but also creates an interesting architectural conundrum. While the buildings will be inhabited (nearly 24/7) by company employees, they’re also very much populated by the imaginations of people across the globe. What is it like to be in these places?

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Frank Gehry's Grand Avenue towers have officially broken ground in downtown Los Angeles. After over a decade in the making, the project was designed from a central retail core into the two terracing towers with a mix of retail, entertainment and residences. The $1 billion complex aims to turn Grand Avenue into a full entertainment district. Conceived as a public-private partnership, the project is considered a capstone for the Grand Avenue Redevelopment initiative to complete the city’s main downtown cultural corridor.

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It would seem that in London when it rains, it pours. Mere weeks after designs for the London Centre for Music were announced, efforts to bestow the city with another world-class concert venue have come to the fore. The Wimbledon Concert Hall, which currently has American architect Frank Gehry attached to the project, would add a 1,250-seat space for music and performance to the London suburb best known for tennis.

Louisiana Channel has released a new video interview with Frank Gehry. Known for his expressive use of form, Gehry has become one of the most important architects of our time. Recorded at his studio in Santa Monica, the interview explores Gehry's life and early influences, as well as modern architecture and the world as he sees it today. Marc-Christoph Wagner explores Gehry's ideas on building, art, and leaving your mark on the world.

Architects are often bound by the will of their client, reluctantly sacrificing and compromising design choices in order to suit their needs. But what happens when architects become their own clients? When architects design for themselves, they have the potential to test their ideas freely, explore without creative restriction, and create spaces which wholly define who they are, how they design, and what they stand for. From iconic architect houses like the Gehry Residence in Santa Monica to private houses that double as a public-entry museum, here are 9 fascinating examples of how architects design when they only have themselves to answer to.

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New photography by Hervé Hôte has been released, showcasing the Frank Gehry-designed Luma Arles complex as construction continues in the French town of Arles. The arts center, situated on a former SNCF rail yard, will offer exhibition, research, education, and archive space within a 46-meter-tall, aluminum tile-clad tower.

Constructed from a concrete core and steel frame, the scheme emerges from a circular glass atrium echoing the town’s Roman amphitheater. The distinctive jagged form above the atrium echoes the region’s rugged mountain ranges, with glass boxes extruding from reflective aluminum panels.