Architect Frank Gehry has died: See his most iconic buildings
Architect Frank Gehry has died: See his most iconic buildings

Architect Frank Gehry died Friday after a brief respiratory illness in his Santa Monica, Calif. home, the New York Times reports. He was 96.

The Canada-born Gehry was hailed as the “most important architect of our age” by Vanity Fair in 2010. Known for his dynamic building designs that used unexpected materials and often seemed to defy logic and gravity, Gehry made a name for himself in 1978, when he redesigned his Santa Monica home utilizing industrial materials such as chain-link fencing. Since then, he has crafted many unique buildings around the world that have become tourist attractions in their own right.

Below are some of Gehry’s most famous works.

Gehry House (1978)

Gehry House
The Gehry House in Santa Monica, Calif. (IK's World Trip/Wikicommons)

Gehry’s home in Santa Monica was originally a Dutch colonial-style house built in the 1920s. Gehry built upon the original structure using materials like corrugated metal, chain link and glass. Although the unconventional design alienated some neighbors, it became a tourist attraction. Gehry resided there for four decades.

Vitra Design Museum (1989)

Vitra Design Museum.
Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, Germany. (Wladyslaw/Wikicommons)

The museum dedicated to design, located in Weil am Rhein, Germany, was the architect’s first building in Europe. It was built with white plaster and a titanium-zinc alloy and is considered an example of the postmodern deconstructivist architecture style.

Dancing House (1996)

The Dancing House.
The Dancing House in Prague, Czech Republic. (Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Designed by Gehry and renowned architect Vlado Milunić, the dynamic building located in Prague — which contains a restaurant as well as a gallery — is meant to represent actors and dance partners Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.

Guggenheim Bilbao (1997)

Guggenheim Bilbao.
Guggenheim Bilbao in Bilbao, Spain. (Naotake Murayama/Wikicommons)

One of Gehry’s most famous works, this museum in Bilbao, Spain, was designed using advanced software due to its mathematical complexity. The building’s exterior is made of thin, textured titanium sheets, complemented by limestone and glass.

Peter B. Lewis Building (2002)

Peter B. Lewis Building.
Peter B. Lewis Building in Cleveland, Ohio. (Usaf 1832/Wikicommons)

Located at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, the Peter B. Lewis Building serves as the home for the Weatherhead School of Management. The reflective building is crafted out of stainless steel.

Walt Disney Concert Hall (2003)

Disney Concert Hall
The Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. (Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for LAPA)

Lillian Disney donated $50 million for the creation of a new concert hall in honor of her late husband, Walt Disney. Gehry, one of four architects who sought the project, ultimately won the job. For the downtown Los Angeles building, Gehry utilized curved stainless steel, which created the illusion of a building covered in silver sails.

IAC Building (2007)

IAC Headquarters Building.
IAC Headquarters Building in New York City. (~~×α£đ~~es/Wikicommons)

The New York City building, the headquarters of IAC (formerly InteractiveCorp, was the first office building in the city designed by the architect. It is made of glass and sits 10 stories tall in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan.

Lou Ruvo Center (2010)

Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health.
The Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas. (Monster4711/Wikicommons)

The Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas was designed as a research and care facility for neurological diseases. Though Gehry had originally turned down projects in Las Vegas, he was persuaded by entrepreneur Larry Ruvo, who commissioned the project, after Ruvo stated he would include Huntington’s research at the campus, a cause that Gehry had long supported. Like many of Gehry’s works, the building’s steel surface creates a constantly changing effect as it catches the light.

Foundation Louis Vuitton (2014)

Fondation Louis Vuitton
The Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris. (piotr iłowiecki/Wikicommons)

The Paris building, which houses art exhibits, was designed to capture the look of an iceberg. The complex design required special software, created by Gehry Technologies, to craft the unique shapes used in the architecture.

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