Frank Gehry
Canadian and American architect known for postmodern designs and use of unconventional forms and materials, including titanium and stainless steel.
Frank Owen Gehry ( GAIR-ee; born Ephraim Owen Goldberg on February 28, 1929, in Toronto, Ontario; died December 5, 2025) was a Canadian-American architect and designer. He became famous for postmodern buildings that used unusual shapes and materials. Many of his structures, including his own Santa Monica home, became tourist destinations. His best-known projects are the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Spain, the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, and the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris. These buildings are known for their sculptural, often wavy exteriors and creative use of materials like titanium and stainless steel.
Gehry first gained attention in the 1970s for a style that mixed ordinary materials with complex, dynamic forms. Critics often called his work deconstructivist, but he avoided labels. A 2010 World Architecture Survey ranked his buildings among the most important contemporary architecture, and *Vanity Fair* called him "the most important architect of our age." He won many honors, including the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1989, the National Medal of Arts, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. His work also included furniture, jewelry, liquor bottles, and other products.
Gehry was born to Sadie Thelma Kaplanski and Irving Goldberg. His father, a New York City native, had Russian-Jewish parents; his mother was a Polish-Jewish immigrant from Łódź. As a child, he built imaginary cities from wood scraps with his grandmother, Leah Caplan. Those scraps came from her husband's hardware store. Saturday mornings at that store later inspired his use of corrugated steel, chain-link fencing, and unpainted plywood. His mother took him to concerts and museums, while his father thought he was a dreamer. He used the Hebrew name "Ephraim" only at his bar mitzvah. In 1954, he changed his surname from Goldberg to Gehry because his then-wife Anita worried about antisemitism. The family moved to Timmins, Ontario, in 1937 but returned to Toronto after facing antisemitism.
In 1947, Gehry's family immigrated to the United States and settled in California. He drove a delivery truck and studied at Los Angeles City College. After trying radio announcing and chemical engineering without success, he remembered his love of art and his grandmother's blocks and enrolled in architecture classes. He graduated from the University of Southern California's School of Architecture in 1954, where he studied under William Pereira and joined Alpha Epsilon Pi. He then served in the U.S. Army and held other jobs. In fall 1956, he moved his family to Cambridge, Massachusetts, to study city planning at Harvard's Graduate School of Design on the GI Bill. There, his leftist views and ideas about socially responsible architecture were dismissed by professors. He was especially disillusioned when a professor invited him to discuss a secret project that turned out to be a palace for Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista.
Gehry dropped out of Harvard to start Easy Edges, a furniture company that made pieces from cardboard. He returned to Los Angeles to work for Victor Gruen Associates, where he had apprenticed at USC. In 1957, at age 28, he designed his first private residence, the David Cabin in Idyllwild, California, for a neighbor of his wife's family. The cabin already showed Gehry's trademarks: protruding exterior beams, vertical-grain Douglas fir details, and exposed unfinished ceiling beams. It also reflected Asian influences, especially the Shōsōin in Nara, Japan. In 1961, he moved to Paris to work for architect Andre Remonde. The next year, he opened his own practice in Los Angeles, which became Frank Gehry and Associates in 1967.
- born
- February 28, 1929, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- died
- December 5, 2025
- field
- Architecture and design
- nationality
- Canadian and American
- known_for
- Postmodern designs, use of unconventional forms and materials, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Louis Vuitton Foundation
Lore & Background
Ephraim Owen Goldberg was born on February 28, 1929, at Toronto General Hospital in Toronto, Ontario, to parents Sadie Thelma (née Kaplanski/Caplan) and Irving Goldberg. His American father was born in New York City to Russian-Jewish parents, and his Polish-Jewish mother was an immigrant born in Łódź. A creative child, he was encouraged by his grandmother, Leah Caplan, with whom he built little cities out of scraps of wood. Gehry's use of corrugated steel, chain-link fencing, unpainted plywood, and other utilitarian or 'everyday' materials was partly inspired by spending Saturday mornings at his grandfather's hardware store. He was given the Hebrew name 'Ephraim' by his grandfather, but used it only at his bar mitzvah. In 1954, Gehry changed his surname from Goldberg to Gehry, after his then-wife Anita expressed concern about antisemitism. Gehry and his family moved to the gold mining town of Timmins, Ontario, in 1937 but moved back to Toronto after facing antisemitism.
Reader's Guide
In 1947, Gehry's family immigrated to the United States, settling in California. He got a job driving a delivery truck and studied at Los Angeles City College. Gehry went on to graduate from the University of Southern California's School of Architecture in 1954, where his professors included William Pereira. During that time, he became a member of Alpha Epsilon Pi. He then spent time away from architecture in numerous other jobs, including service in the United States Army. He moved his family to Cambridge, Massachusetts in the fall of 1956, where he studied city planning at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design using the GI Bill. Gehry ultimately dropped out of his graduate program at Harvard University to start the furniture manufacturing company Easy Edges, which specialised in creating pieces with cardboard. He returned to Los Angeles to work for Victor Gruen Associates, with whom he had apprenticed while at USC. In 1957, at age 28, he was given the chance to design his first private residence with friend and old classmate Greg Walsh. Built in Idyllwild, California, for his wife Anita's family neighbor Melvin David, the over 2,000 sq ft (190 m2) 'David Cabin' shows features that were to become synonymous with Gehry's later work. In 1961, Gehry moved to Paris, where he worked for architect Andre Remonde. In 1962, he established a practice in Los Angeles that became Frank Gehry and Associates in 1967, then Gehry Partners in 2001. His earliest commissions were in Southern California, where he designed a number of innovative commercial structures such as Santa Monica Place (1980) and residential buildings such as the eccentric Norton House (1984) in Venice, Los Angeles. Among these works, Gehry's most notable design may be the renovation of his own Santa Monica residence. Originally built in 1920 and purchased by Gehry in 1977, it features a metallic exterior wrapped around the original building that leaves many of the original details visible. Other of Gehry's buildings completed during the 1980s include the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium (1981) in San Pedro, and the California Aerospace Museum (1984) at the California Museum of Science and Industry in Los Angeles. In 1989, Gehry received the Pritzker Architecture Prize. Gehry continued to design other notable buildings in California, such as the Chiat/Day Building (1991) in Venice, in collaboration with
Did You Know?
- Gehry's use of corrugated steel, chain-link fencing, and unpainted plywood was partly inspired by spending Saturday mornings at his grandfather's hardware store.
- Gehry changed his surname from Goldberg to Gehry in 1954 after his then-wife Anita expressed concern about antisemitism.
- Gehry's first private residence, the David Cabin, was built in Idyllwild, California, in 1957.
- Gehry studied city planning at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design using the GI Bill but dropped out to start the furniture company Easy Edges.
- Gehry received the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1989.
Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)
"Frank Owen Gehry, CC, FAIA (born Frank Owen Goldberg; February 28, 1929 – December 5, 2025) was a Canadian-born American architect." — Frank Gehry "Architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for timelessness." — Frank Gehry "In: Kim Johnson Gross, Jeff Stone, Julie V. Iovine (1993) Home. p. 43." — Frank Gehry "Life is chaotic, dangerous, and surprising. Buildings should reflect that." — Frank Gehry
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