AIA New Jersey Members Recall The Impact of Frank Gehry’s Work

On the occasion of Frank Gehry’s passing, our members share memories of visiting many of his noteworthy buildings. The AIA Gold Medalist was one of a handful of architects known by the general population, whose iconic work has revitalized communities around the world.

Mr. Gehry was widely considered a leading “Starchitect,” a term for famous architects whose signature styles attract global attention and often become city landmarks. However, he personally disliked the label, preferring to be seen just as an architect who made buildings joyful and accessible. His Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao cemented his status, creating the “Bilbao Effect” of urban revitalization through iconic architecture, even as he maintained his artistic integrity and disdain for being just a brand.

AIA Components across the country have featured tours including Gehry’s projects, including the Santa Monica House and Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the New World Center in Miami, the IAC Building and 8 Spruce in NYC, the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago, and the Stata Center at MIT.

Members have also noted visits to the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD, the Fisher Center at Bard College in New York, the Weisman Art Museum at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, and the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle.

International adventures have taken our members to see the Guggenheim Museums in Bilbao and Abu Dhabi as well as the Dancing House in Prague.

One of our most well-traveled members, Joseph David, AIA, remarked, “Frank Gehry’s work was always controversial. I remember having seemingly unending arguments with colleagues about whether his buildings were sculpture or architecture, as if such distinctions ever mattered. What is undeniable is that over the course of his career, his work changed architecture as we know it. Try walking that secret outdoor passageway that snakes around the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and not anxiously awaiting what you’ll see and feel at every turn, or try standing inside the main hall at the Lou Ruvo Institute in Las Vegas and not taking picture after picture, or try taking the barnacle stair at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto (hanging over the very same park where a young Frank Gehry played as a child) and not being impressed more than you expected. Even if you have strong feelings against him, remember that the reason you have those strong feelings is that the level of his work demands it. And while there will be another architect exactly like him, his work will stand as an inspiration of what buildings powered by creativity can be.”