Renowned Architect Frank Gehry Dies at 96

Famed architect Frank Gehry, known for undulating designs that critics hailed as being art as much as architecture, died at his home in Santa Monica, Calif., on Friday at the age of 96.

The Toronto-born Gehry is best known for transforming the landscape of Los Angeles, including designing the 2,265-seat Walt Disney Concert Hall in Downtown L.A. He also added titanium-clad flair to the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, from the helm of his practice, Gehry Partners, which he founded in 1962.

The New York Times first reported his death, citing his chief of staff Meaghan Lloyd. Gehry Partners did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Pritzker Prize-winning architect moved to Los Angeles from Canada in 1947. He married Anita Snyder in 1952, and the couple were divorced in 1966 before Gehry married Berta Isabel Aguilera, his current spouse, in 1975. Gehry had four children.

Prior to launching his own firm, Gehry worked for Victor Gruen Associates before starting to design homes on his own.

Gehry’s dynamic architectural designs, which at times appeared to be in motion, often were constructed using titanium, corrugated metal and other unusual materials. In a 2018 interview with Commercial Observer, Gehry, then 88, spoke about how his influences often came from the imaginary stimulus of classical music and literature, counting artists such as Gustavo Dudamel, Pierre Boulez and Yo-Yo Ma as friends and mentors.

He also said at the time that commercial properties were among the most difficult to design, even compared to museums. His notable works in commercial real estate include 8 Spruce Street in Lower Manhattan, the Cleveland Clinic’s Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas, and the Hotel Marqués de Riscal in Elciego, Spain.

Gehry does not seem to have retired in recent years, having recently designed an Atherton, Calif., home for Silicon Valley executive Massy Mehdipour.

“When Frank asked me why I wanted him to design my house, I told him that I wanted to bring his creativity to Northern California,” Mehdipour told Architectural Digest in an article posted Thursday. “People in this area needed to see it. I told him that I wanted this house to be his work of art.”

Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.