Frank Gehry: Nie żyje słynny architekt, twórca Muzeum Guggenheima w Bilbao

Frank Gehry, the architect renowned for designing iconic structures like the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, has died at the age of 96.

Frank Gehry, one of the most celebrated architects of the modern era, passed away Friday, according to Gehry Partners. His distinctive style, characterized by sweeping curves and unconventional forms, left an indelible mark on the global architectural landscape.

Born Frank Goldberg in Toronto in 1929, Gehry’s mother’s family hailed from Łódź, Poland. He moved with his family to California in 1947 and went on to study architecture at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

After completing his studies, Gehry faced a period of uncertainty, working at several architectural firms in Los Angeles, briefly attending Harvard Graduate School of Design before leaving without a degree, serving a year in the U.S. Army, and spending a year in Paris. He returned to Los Angeles in 1962, where his wife suggested he change his name to avoid potential antisemitism.

An Architectural Icon

Gehry rose to prominence in the 1970s with his unique approach, blending everyday materials with complex, dynamic structures. His work was often described as deconstructivist, a categorization he resisted for many years.

Budynki, które zaprojektował Frank Gehry

In 1989, Gehry received the Pritzker Prize, architecture’s highest honor. He was among the first architects to embrace computer software, enabling him to design increasingly unconventional forms.

Gehry gained international recognition for the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, completed in 1997, which became a symbol of the city and one of the most recognizable buildings of contemporary architecture. The museum’s success is often credited with revitalizing Bilbao’s economy and sparking a trend known as the “Bilbao effect,” where iconic architecture is used to drive tourism and investment.

“The new Guggenheim proposed a fresh, dynamic approach: architecture whose appeal lay in the dazzling, large-scale curves possible with design software and almost perfectly suited to architectural photography and presentation in newspapers and magazines. Suddenly cities and museums began courting Gehry—or another member of the growing class of superstar architects, the so-called starchitects—to try to replicate the success of the new Guggenheim, attracting attention and tourist dollars. That success even earned its own name: the Bilbao effect,” the Los Angeles Times wrote.

Reuters recalled that in an interview with Vanity Fair, Gehry said he exclaimed to himself, “Oh my God, what have I done to these people?” when he first saw the Bilbao museum in person. He added that it took him several years to actually like the building.

Other notable works by Gehry include the Dancing House in Prague (1996), the Neuer Zollhof complex in Düsseldorf (1999), the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle (2000), Gehry Tower in Hanover (2001), Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles (2003), the 8 Spruce Tower in New York City (2010), and the Fondation Louis Vuitton Museum in Paris (2014).

According to Gehry Partners, Gehry died Friday at his home in Santa Monica after a short illness.