What Do You Know About Frank Gehry?

Once a month I attend a study group through Brandeis called Deis Flicks. Each month we see a movie or documentary on something interesting. In November we saw a documentary made by Sidney Pollack on the world's most famous living architect, Frank Gehry. Sidney and Frank had become friends about five years before the film was made, and when Sidney was asked to make the film, he hesitated. He said he had never done anything like that before, but ultimately said "Yes," and the result is a film that gives you an understanding of Frank Gehry, where he came from, and how he got where he is.

To begin with, he was born Frank Goldberg, in Toronto. His family moved to Los Angeles when he was young, and he changed his name in 1954, due to an incident at USC that he felt was anti-Semitism. He had long been told by high school and college teachers that architecture was the creative path he should pursue. He was a top student in his first year. Then, during his second year he was discouraged by a professor from continuing this path. Frank saw this as anti-Semitic, so he changed his name. We'll never know if it was or not, but if it wasn't, man, was this professor wrong!

Frank Gehry has changed the look of a conservative field. Early on his style was less of what historians call "contemporary cubist sculpture." As his fame and fortune grew, he became more confident in both his personal relationships and in the architecture he was creating. His work has become more daring. Today he can pick and choose his projects. The most important determinant on whether he takes on a new project, is how he feels about the client. He will not work with people he does not like. In the 1960's Gehry aligned himself with contemporary artists. Architects were making fun of his work, but artists understood him. It's amazing that this creative genius has never picked up a paintbrush. He says it scares him to death. There are many interviews with Gehry's long time therapist, Milton Wexler. We learn through the therapist that Gehry has been constantly concerned with bankruptcy, he is highly competitive, and his "Aw, shucks," attitude is a cover up for his insecurities. His love of architecture grew out of early childhood afternoons building cities and houses out of blocks, with his grandmother. He also loved to do anything with his hands as a young child, and this was encouraged by his father. His early projects were mostly home renovations in the LA area. I have probably driven by dozens of his projects and not even known it. In the early 1980's he designed Santa Monica Place, in my opinion, and his, a very ugly mall. He had to do what he did because of money, and he vowed never again to let money be the driving force in his creations. He has done so many buildings, but here is a short list of a few of them: Spiller house, Wynton house, Peterson house, Santa Monica Place, hockey rink in Anaheim, Vetra Furniture Museum, Bilbao Guggenheim Museum, O'Neil Hay Barn, Davis residence, Lewis mansion, Maggie's Place. Today he has a crew of dozens of creative men and women helping him create wonderful architecture for the world to enjoy.