International Art Treasures Web Magazine

March 2006  

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Frank Gehry in Toronto

Title: Final Design, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto.
Dundas Street Facade
© Gehry International, Architects, Inc.
Image Courtesy: The Art Gallery of Ontario

Frank Gehry: Art + Architecture
Art Galley of Ontario, Toronto
through May 7, 2006

Toronto born architect Frank Gehry has been selected to create the new look for the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) located in his home town. As the project is underway but not yet complete the AGO has organized an exhibit exploring four Gehry projects that were completed in the past ten years. They are: Walt Disney Concert Hall Los Angeles; DZ Bank Berlin; Stata Center MIT Cambridge MA; Millennium Park Chicago. Through interactive media, interviews, site photographs, models, and one brief clip of a television show the architect is honored with an exhibit before the transformed AGO is finished in 2008.

Walt Disney Concert Hall
Los Angeles, California

Title: Walt Disney Concert Hall 1987-99/2003 Simulated view
Photograph: Courtesy of Gehry Partners LLP and The Art Gallery of Ontario

A ship sailing at full mast is the look of the Walt Disney Concert Hall. The interior is in a traditional form to allow the full acoustical experience for each concert attendee.

The models are exquisitely designed down to the last detail: a poster advertising an upcoming concert. A cross section illustrates the magnificent pipes for the organ. Included in this portion are Gehry's sketches for the Disney project.

Naysayers on the design managed to cause enough friction to delay the completion of the project for sixteen years.

DZ Bank, Pariser Platz, Berlin

The exterior of the building adheres to the strict building codes given it is located adjacent to the Brandenburg Gate. It's inside where Gehry's creativity is allowed free reign. It includes a glass-covered interior courtyard and the unforgettable closed conference area encased in a free-form sculpture.

Title: DZ Bank Building Berlin 1995-2001 Final Design Model
Image Courtesy of Gehry Partners, LLP and the Art Gallery of Ontario

Ray and Maria Stata Center, MIT
Cambridge Massachusetts

Title: Stata Center 2: Ray & Maria Stata Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Image Courtesy: Courtesy of Gehry Partners, LLP and the Art Gallery of Ontario

Gehry is probably best known for his curvaceous structures and the Stata Center embodies his trademarks. The 720,000 square-foot was created to be the innovation center at MIT.

Millennium Park
Jay Pritzerk Pavilion and Great Lawn
and BP Bridge, Grant Park
Chicago, Illinois

Title: Jay Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park, Chicago 1999-2005 Final Design Model
Image Courtesy of Gehry Partners, LLP and the Art Gallery of Ontario

Chicago is the home of currently the only Gehry designed bridge in the world. The Pavilion is an outdoor concert venue hosting numerous events including the annual Grant Park Music Festival. Though set outdoors the acoustics are of the quality normally associated with indoor structures.

The Art Gallery of Ontario
Toronto, Ontario

Title: Final Design, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto.
View from Dundas and McCaul Streets
© Gehry International, Architects, Inc.
Image Courtesy: The Art Gallery of Ontario

Fittingly the exhibit ends with the transformation of the AGO itself. Throughout each room one experiences Gehry his work and in his own words through repeating interviews. A 3-D design of the finished AGO project provides the vision of the finished project next to the models.

Fun and Functional

In the largest section children of all ages are encouraged to build wooden structures with all supplies provided in the spirit of Gehry to provide inspiration for future architects. This is located next to a 3-minute showing of Gehry designing a fictional opera house for Springfield home of television's Simpson family. Check out the architect's mail box in the animated show. Gehry is sometimes said never to have grown up for those that regard fun anathema to functional regardless that the architect has managed to make the two go hand in hand in his lifework. Frank Gehry creates the art of the possible.