Frank Gehry

[editor]

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/architecture/frank-gehry-dont-call-me-a-starchitect-1842870.html

In this interview, starchitect Frank Gehry drops the F-bomb, takes shots at other architects, and gets his undies in a bundle over the word "starchitect." About the only thing he didn't do is tell the reporter to get off his lawn.

[names]

Whether he accepts it or not, his work represents the high water mark for post-modernism (decon) like that of the Baroque period w/r/t the Renaissance period. Borromini unimpressed.

[editor]

I think he's be OK with it if it was just him, and maybe one or two others. But I get the sense that there's a lot of other starchitects that he doesn't like.

[kylejack]

I pity the fool who hates a portmanteau.

[names]

I think he's be OK with it if it was just him, and maybe one or two others. But I get the sense that there's a lot of other starchitects that he doesn't like.

Probably Joshua Prince-Ramus, he also has an attitude about the term, recently taking stabs at the older set of practicing architects.

http://www.fastcompa...ince-ramus.html

But for Prince-Ramus, that brief stand on his soapbox had nothing to do with false modesty. Coming from a young partner at a "starchitect" firm -- Koolhaas, like Gehry and Libeskind, belongs to that elite circle of one-name wonders -- the little lecture amounted to a swipe at celebrity-obsessed architectural writers and critics.

[kylejack]

If famed architect Frank Gehry is allowed to say the F word, we should be allowed to say it here on these architect forums.

[names]

For some it's about definition, for others it's the connotations.

[AtticaFlinch]

If famed architect Frank Gehry is allowed to say the F word, we should be allowed to say it here on these architect forums.

You can say it all you want. You just can't write it.

I'd just like to be able to write m*e*h without the asterisks and without being turned into a cow.

[new major on the block]

Probably Joshua Prince-Ramus, he also has an attitude about the term, recently taking stabs at the older set of practicing architects.

http://www.fastcompa...ince-ramus.html

Yeah, I met Joshua Prince-Ramus this summer and hes a no B.S. down to earth kind of guy. Hes concise and to the point when it comes to architecture. Thats probably why he started REX, to get away from being grouped up with that system that he worked under at OMA.

[moni]

I do not know how to post photos, but anyone interested in Gehry's work should check this out:

http://www.latimes.com/

[dbigtex56]

Hope it doesn't unnecessarily confuse the patients.

[Dakota79]

As they say in church - Amen brother. AMEN

http://gizmodo.com/frank-gehry-thinks-architecture-today-is-pure-shit-1649914255?utm_campaign=socialflow_gizmodo_facebook&utm_source=gizmodo_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

[Montrose1100]

While I do agree with him that a majority of what we see today is total cheap garbage (in this country), I would have to say a majority of his work is total garbage. 82 Spruce Street is a scar on the NY skyline. Yes, up close the wavy curtain design is cool to look at, but from afar it gives off that weird news camera filming an old school computer monitor look. 

[Dakota79]

While I do agree with him that a majority of what we see today is total cheap garbage (in this country), I would have to say a majority of his work is total garbage. 82 Spruce Street is a scar on the NY skyline. Yes, up close the wavy curtain design is cool to look at, but from afar it gives off that weird news camera filming an old school computer monitor look.

I agree. I don't necessarily care for his stuff either. It all looks the same. I miss Phillp Johnson.

[Luminare]

I agree. I don't necessarily care for his stuff either. It all looks the same. I miss Phillp Johnson.

 

People used to say the same about Phillip Johnson also especially when he made the leap from Modernist to Post-Modern sensibilities. Gehry of course is the embodiment of post-modernism. While he might not be everyones cup of tea at least he is bold, has a genuine unique take on architecture, challenges the profession, and is not afraid of pissing people off. The number one problem with american architecture right now is that it truly represents some very bad aspects of our current culture. It's cheap, it's tacky, it's overly reliant on nostalgia instead of standing on its own merits, it's immensely conservative, and worst of all it tries to please everyone and tries to not offend everyone. Architecture is suppose to provoke your senses and stir up some type of emotion! It's suppose to have some kind of identity and personality. We should strive to do this with all types of buildings from the purely mundane, to the fantastical, to the utilitarian, to the low income, high income, big and small, short and tall. What you need to do is judge Gehry by these values and I think you will find that he is very good and creating architecture that provokes emotion and has distinction (whether good or bad).

 

There are certainly buildings that I do like and some that I think I pretty silly. He just finished a new museum in France....and I don't know yet how I feel about it. I love the sails and how he plays with glass, glue-lam wood, and steel. I hate how it ends up only being a fancy facade though as from what I've seen it doesn't really form the interior. The interior seems to be its own independent thing. You know what it is doing? It's creating debate. It's furthering the discourse. It's getting people pissed off, confused, etc...