Architect Frank Gehry, who passed away this Friday at the age of 96, left his mark on numerous countries with works that were at times controversial but always spectacular.
One of his masterpieces is the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao (Spain, 1997). Considered by specialists and media as the architect's magnum opus, Gehry, born in Toronto (Canada) and living in the United States since he was 17, designed this building. As The Guardian noted in 2017, the museum «changed everything» and initiated a «global frenzy» with its curved forms and titanium cladding. The museum boosted the urban regeneration of the Biscayan capital (the so-called 'Bilbao effect') and solidified Gehry's status as a global reference of deconstructivism.
His other major works include:
- Biomuseo (2014, Panama City, Panama): The architect's only work in Latin America, it is focused on Panama's biodiversity and natural history.
- Dancing House (1996, Prague, Czech Republic): Gehry designed this building with Czech-Croat architect Vlado Milunić. It is considered a precursor to the stylistic language he would develop four years later in Bilbao.
- Walt Disney Concert Hall (2003, Los Angeles, USA): Like the Guggenheim in Bilbao, the concert hall has become one of the city's symbols and is considered to have some of the best acoustics in the world.
- Stata Center (2004, Cambridge, USA): An academic building for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, its design was criticized and included by The Telegraph in its list of the worst buildings.
- Museum of Pop Culture (2000, Seattle, USA): Initially known as the Experience Music Project, the museum is dedicated to contemporary popular culture and was an initiative by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.
- Fondation Louis Vuitton (2014, Paris, France): The cultural center and museum, considered an example of deconstructivism, cost almost 800 million euros, eight times the initial budget.
- Hotel Marqués de Riscal (2006, Elciego, Spain): A luxury hotel that is part of the Marqués de Riscal winery complex and follows the stylistic lines of his Bilbao museum.
- 8 Spruce Street (2011, New York, USA): A residential skyscraper with 76 floors and 265 meters in height, located in Manhattan's financial district.
- Weisman Art Museum (1993, Minneapolis, USA): An academic center built for the University of Minnesota, characterized by two differentiated structures.
