THE DEVELOPMENT OF FRANK O. GEHRY'S ARCHITECTURE

Through his works 1983-2000

Abstract

 The American architect Frank O. Gehry (1929 -) has a very dynamic and organic presentation style. About 50 years ago, his architectural style, such as in the Danziger Studio Residence (1964), was completely different from his style in current works.

 A previous paper, “The development of Frank O. Gehry’s architecture through his early works,” traces the evolution of his architectural style from being plain and static to becoming more open and dispersive. There are five concepts in the book Principles of Art History by Heinrich Wölfflin (1864-1945), namely, “from linear to painterly,” “from plane to recession,” “from closed form to open form,” “from multiplicity to unity,” and “from absolute clarity to relative clarity of the subject,” similar to the development of Gehry’s architectural style.

 The purpose of this paper is to clarify the process and continuous trajectory of Gehry’s work from 1983 to 2000 and relate this process to Wölfflin’s five concepts.

 The Sirmai-Peterson Residence, built in 1982, features buildings of different colors gathered together. The main cross-shaped structure is a compilation of small buildings, with some independent buildings scattered around the main building. This style demonstrates a “main building” and “subordinate buildings.”

 His next work, Chiat/Day Building, completed in 1985, has a unique facade composed of three buildings in the shape of “a boat,” “a pair of binoculars,” and “trees.” These three buildings together form the facade. These three buildings appear to be works of pop art and make the large existing building look like it is divided into smaller units.

 Third, the Vitra Design Museum, completed in 1987, is composed of several pieces of motif, including the shape of a cross. The cross shape also appears at the Sirmai-Peterson house, but in the main building. This implies that the relationship between the main and subordinate buildings change while fusing with each other.

 Fourth, the Bilbao Guggenheim Museum, completed in 1991, demonstrates a quite smooth surface in which elements of architecture together form an entire building. This work more substantially features the fusion of the main building with subordinate buildings.

 Fifth, the design of the Experience Music Project, built in 1996, comprises six differently colored buildings that together form one big space with a waved metallic surface. The surface of these buildings appears similar to a cloth waving in the wind.

 The paper clarified the fact that the works of Frank O. Gehry exhibit a gradual development from 1983 to 2000, containing the same five Renaissance and Baroque concepts by Heinrich Wölfflin, including Mannerism. Gehry’s works completed after 2000 are detailed in a subsequent paper.