In brief
Frank Gehry, celebrated for his avant-garde architectural style, famously transformed global architecture with groundbreaking projects like the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. His unique use of materials and shapes not only garnered immense acclaim but also reshaped urban landscapes. Gehry's death marks the loss of a visionary who pushed artistic boundaries and left an indelible mark on architecture worldwide.
Frank Gehry, one of the most influential architects of the last century, has died aged 96.
Gehry was acclaimed for his avant-garde, experimental style of architecture. His titanium-covered design of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, catapulted him to fame in 1997.
His breakthrough in the architectural world came years earlier when he redesigned his own home in Santa Monica, California, using materials like chain-link fencing, plywood, and corrugated steel.
His death was confirmed by his chief of staff Meaghan Lloyd. He is survived by two daughters from his first marriage, Leslie and Brina, as well as his wife, Berta Isabel Aguilera, and their two sons, Alejandro and Samuel.
Born in Toronto in 1929, Gehry moved to Los Angeles as a teenager to study architecture at the University of Southern California, before completing further study at the Harvard Graduate School of Design in 1956 and 1957.
After starting his own firm, he broke from traditional architectural principles of symmetry, using unconventional geometric shapes and unfinished materials in a style now known as deconstructivism.
Through blending unexpected materials and sheathing buildings in stainless steel to create curvy exteriors, Gehry created buildings that took on arresting sculptural shapes.
In 1989, at the age of 60, Gehry was awarded the industry's top accolade, the Pritzker Architecture prize, for lifetime achievement.
His work in Bilbao put him in high demand, and he went on to design iconic structures in cities around the world: the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago's Millennium Park, the Gehry Tower in Germany, and the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris.
Tributes are flooding in for Gehry, highlighting his willingness to discard convention and forge a creative legacy. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney expressed his condolences, emphasizing Gehry's unforgettable vision that lives on in iconic buildings worldwide.
