The Official Frank Gehry Thread

[Donuthole]

Despite a handful of college courses in drafting and two years of apprentice draftsmanship at my uncle's residential architecture firm in Utah while earning my undergraduate degree, I know very little about famous architects and their work. I would guess most people outside the architectural world are in the same boat.

Here in Vegas, I drive by the construction site for the Lou Ruvo Brain Institute at least a couple times a week, and the building is pretty impossible to miss.





The sign near the construction site lists Frank Gehry as the architect. Is that a name I should recognize along with the Frank Lloyd Wrights of the world?

Regardless, I think the building looks pretty cool, and I'll definitely go take a tour of it when it is completed. Anybody else have any cool buildings going up in their your neck of the woods?

[Color Me Badd Fan]

Despite a handful of college courses in drafting and two years of apprentice draftsmanship at my uncle's residential architecture firm in Utah while earning my undergraduate degree, I know very little about famous architects and their work. I would guess most people outside the architectural world are in the same boat.

Here in Vegas, I drive by the construction site for the Lou Ruvo Brain Institute at least a couple times a week, and the building is pretty impossible to miss.





The sign near the construction site lists Frank Gehry as the architect. Is that a name I should recognize along with the Frank Lloyd Wrights of the world?

Regardless, I think the building looks pretty cool, and I'll definitely go take a tour of it when it is completed. Anybody else have any cool buildings going up in their your neck of the woods?

So far, that thing looks like it's the size of a 7-Eleven, will it ever get any bigger?

[cougjunkie]

Despite a handful of college courses in drafting and two years of apprentice draftsmanship at my uncle's residential architecture firm in Utah while earning my undergraduate degree, I know very little about famous architects and their work. I would guess most people outside the architectural world are in the same boat.

Here in Vegas, I drive by the construction site for the Lou Ruvo Brain Institute at least a couple times a week, and the building is pretty impossible to miss.





The sign near the construction site lists Frank Gehry as the architect. Is that a name I should recognize along with the Frank Lloyd Wrights of the world?

Regardless, I think the building looks pretty cool, and I'll definitely go take a tour of it when it is completed. Anybody else have any cool buildings going up in their your neck of the woods?

Didnt Robin used to work for Frank Gehry? Honestly I know nothing about architecture but I do know that building is hideous.

[YOhio]

Didnt Robin used to work for Frank Gehry? Honestly I know nothing about architecture but I do know that building is hideous.

Do you know what's going on with the Frank Gehry/Brandt Anderson project in Lehi?

[Donuthole]

So far, that thing looks like it's the size of a 7-Eleven, will it ever get any bigger?

Getting bigger by the day, it seems.

[TripletDaddy]

Frank Ghery is getting lazy. The Vegas buildings looks a lot like a skeleton of the Disney Concert Hall in downtown LA. You see this thing in I don't know how many car commercials.

[cougjunkie]

Do you know what's going on with the Frank Gehry/Brandt Anderson project in Lehi?

Seems to be on hold. The big outdoor mall that in Brandt Andersons words "is like the Gateway and Provo Towne Centre Mall on Steroids" I am not sure what is going on with it.

I do know Brandt owns the Utah flash an I have sat by him at Flash home games, he is a grade A douche bag.

[wuapinmon]

I think that building is exceedingly excellent.




If you want a bit of perspective on postmodern architecture, check out Venturi's "Duck and the Decorated Shed." Here's a link, but google kills some pages, so it's not the complete text.

[falafel]

Despite a handful of college courses in drafting and two years of apprentice draftsmanship at my uncle's residential architecture firm in Utah while earning my undergraduate degree, I know very little about famous architects and their work. I would guess most people outside the architectural world are in the same boat.

Here in Vegas, I drive by the construction site for the Lou Ruvo Brain Institute at least a couple times a week, and the building is pretty impossible to miss.





The sign near the construction site lists Frank Gehry as the architect. Is that a name I should recognize along with the Frank Lloyd Wrights of the world?

Regardless, I think the building looks pretty cool, and I'll definitely go take a tour of it when it is completed. Anybody else have any cool buildings going up in their your neck of the woods?

Donut, Gehry is a name you should know.

I think the Ruvo Institute is cool looking, but I agree - when I drove by it a little while ago, I thought that it was way smaller than it should have been. It almost a little embarrassing - like this is the biggest Frank Gehry building we could afford.

[RobinFinderson]

Yes, I worked for Frank. I also studied under him. I was one of about 12 students to 'win' a studio lottery for the chance to study directly with Frank. When I graduated I headed out to Los Angeles to say hello. He offered me a job. Like everyone that works for Frank, I landed the job because A.) I had a top notch education, and B.) I had a personal connection (in my case the connect was Frank himself. It doesn't get better than that.)

I'm a little tired of the Gehry aesthetic myself. The Vegas building doesn't do much for me so far, and considering building performance, those windows that look up to the sky, under the Nevada sun, are going to create some serious cooling problems. I also think his bigger works (Disney Concert Hall and Guggenheim) shows off his talent best. The Vegas building is a bit puny looking. I think it is also worth noting that the building under construction looks way different than the sketch model. Judging by the appearance of that model it would have been one of the earlier sketches (something that I might have produced, back in the day). The windows aren't in the right spots. That means the model was built before the glazing had been really thought out, and the model maker was asked to cut windows simply to suggest their presence.

DDD's 'lazy' point isn't really fair. Frank is an artist who has chosen to toil within a certain limited artistic vocabulary. That said, the Vegas building looks nothing like Disney Concert Hall. The buildings are doing radically different things. In some ways the Vegas building is very ambitious, from a structural point of view. The steel behind those walls, to let the thing flop about like that, has got to be substantial.

I don't really think Frank's work is Post Modern, and I know that Frank himself doesn't appreciate being lumped into that category.

[Donuthole]

I think it is also worth noting that the building under construction looks way different than the sketch model. Judging by the appearance of that model it would have been one of the earlier sketches (something that I might have produced, back in the day). The windows aren't in the right spots. That means the model was built before the glazing had been really thought out, and the model maker was asked to cut windows simply to suggest their presence.

I'm glad you said that, as I was having difficulty placing the real building within the model. I actually think the building, as being constructed, looks better than the model, though I can't quite pinpoint why.

[kccougar]

I've never liked Gehry's work, but then again, I'm an engineer and appreciate a nice 4-sided box.

EDIT: And that Vegas building is the worst I've seen from him.

I wouldn't expect progress on the Utah Co project any time soon. No retail is being built in Utah (or elsewhere) in the current economic climate. I do know that Holding's hotel project for Pleasant Grove is slowly moving forward, which actually surprises me.

[LiveCoug]

Franks rough design for a project in Lehi:






Haven't heard any news about the start of this project in many months, so I doubt it will really come to fruition. Brandt Anderson sure thinks it will happen.

[RobinFinderson]

P.S. Since this is the "Official" Frank Gehry thread, I may as well drop the fact that in 2002 I toured Istanbul for a week with Frank and his wife. I did this with eleven other students, and it was part of our studio, but it was still cool as hell. We were wined and dined by Istanbul's super-rich, and given behind the scenes tours of the Hagia Sophia (we were able to go everywhere regular tourists are not allowed to go), and we did some impressive drinking with the man. All together, it was a pretty amazing experience. Istanbul became one of my favorite cities.

[SeattleUte]

I saw Geary's Guggenheim museum in Bilbao. The exterior it 100% titanium.