Renowned US-Canadian architect Frank Gehry, celebrated worldwide for his innovative designs, died on Friday at the age of 96, his office confirmed to French news agency AFP.
Gehry, creator of landmarks such as the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris, and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, passed away in his Santa Monica, California, home following a brief respiratory illness, his office stated.
Born Frank Owen Goldberg in Toronto on 28 February 1929, Gehry grew up in a Jewish family that relocated to the United States in the late 1940s. He changed his surname to Gehry during the 1950s to shield himself from antisemitism.
During the 1970s and 1980s, Gehry began producing bold, groundbreaking architectural works. Deeply influenced by California’s avant-garde movement, he pioneered new architectural principles and incorporated computer modelling in his designs.
His projects introduced unparalleled complexity to architecture by leveraging advanced digital technologies. Using these tools, Gehry challenged traditional norms, reimagining elements such as facades and roofs.
For decades, curved forms, including ellipses and circles, were viewed as radical, disrupting traditional symmetry, increasing construction costs, and creating engineering challenges. Gehry, however, embraced the flexibility provided by digital simulation to push the boundaries of these conventions.
In 1989, he was awarded the Pritzker Prize, the highest honour in architecture. Eight years later, the opening of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao brought him global acclaim as one of the most influential architects of his time.
