BEHIND THE MIND OF

FRANK GEHRY

EDBERT LIM
024202200014

ARCHITECTURE STUDY PROGRAM

FACULTY OF ENGINEERRING
PRESIDENT UNIVERSITY

CIKARANG, WEST JAVA

 Frank Owen Gehry or who is better known as
Frank Gehry is an architect with dual citizenship,
namely Canada and the United States. Frank Gehry
was born on February 28, 1929, with the birth name
Ephraim Owen Goldberg. Gehry was born into a
Jewish family in Toronto, Ontario, and as a child
Gehry was called Frank Goldberg.

When Gehry was little he was invited by his

grandmother to build small towns from scrap wood,
perhaps this motivated Gehry to become an architect.

Figure 1 Frank Gehry Frank Gehry's building theme is mostly taken

https://musingsmmst.blogspot.com/2020/05/frank
from the movement of the goldfish, where when the
-gehry-unique-to-say-least.html
goldfish swims it will leave a mark in the form of
water series which according to him are very beautiful and dynamic. He watches the movement
of the goldfish from his grandmother's habit every Thursday, namely taking a live goldfish,
and putting it in a bathtub full of water before cooking it. In 1947 Gehry moved to California
and worked as a freight truck driver while attending college at Los Angeles City College, and
eventually graduated from architecture school at the University of Southern California.

After Gehry graduated he did not immediately work in the field of architecture but worked
in several places that had nothing to do with the field of architecture, including serving in the
United States Army. Gehry had studied urban planning at the Harvard Graduate School of
Design, but Gehry quit before graduating. He also got a Doctorate degree honor in the field of
architecture from several institutions and was appointed professor by Yale University. After
that he decided to marry Anita Snyder and at that time, he changed his name from Frank
Goldberg to Frank Gehry. Unfortunately, he had to divorce his wife in the 1960's. Then Gehry
remarried Berta, who is now his wife. Gehry has two daughters from his first marriage and two
sons from his second marriage.

As someone who grew up in Canada, Gehry really likes hockey. He went so far as to create
a hockey championship for his own office. This hockey championship cup is the result of his
design in 2004.

Gehry is a well-known architect because he likes to make strange building designs or what
we often know as Shock Scales. Some of Frank Gehry's works, namely, Weisman Art Museum,
Dancing House, Guggenheim Bilbao Museum, Experience Music Project, Walt Disney
Concert Hall, etc.
Figure 2 Weisman Art Museum
https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=sZbzGnNV&id=88C6AA2FDC561F1F2378A07C8C9A704C9651E
A0D&thid=OIP.sZbzGnNVwKEJJtLoq0h-CgHaE-
&mediaurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.swulinski.com%2FImages%2FUSA%2FMN%2FWeismanArtMuseum%2FWeismanArtMus
eum01-big.jpg&e

Figure 3 Dancing House

https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=sZbzGnNV&id=88C6AA2FDC561F1F2378A07C8C9A704C9651E
A0D&thid=OIP.sZbzGnNVwKEJJtLoq0h-CgHaE-
&mediaurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.swulinski.com%2FImages%2FUSA%2FMN%2FWeismanArtMuseum%2FWeismanArtMus
e
Figure 4 Guggenheim Bilbao Museum
https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=hht%2FizTF&id=7484E24C08DADCB729679AA737516C3F64BE
3E40&thid=OIP.hht_izTFPiXbPnFw7DZtTQHaFd&mediaurl=https%3A%2F%2Fastei.com%2Fwp-
content%2Fuploads%2F2021%2F03%2Fgugenheim.png

Figure 5 Experience Music Project

https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=sTfkAgrr&id=A561102F1CA8D7BCF957EB916B83A91596738D
BF&thid=OIP.sTfkAgrrRDoJynZZHtoiNgHaE8&mediaurl=https%3A%2F%2Fth.bing.com%2Fth%2Fid%2FR.b137e4020aeb443
a09ca76591eda2236%3Fr
Figure 6 Walt Disney Concert Hall
https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=9fzZKnMC&id=C38094B4475DEBE616B92BB722BA943621CE2
E9D&thid=OIP.9fzZKnMCOk6Lj2KDNAy9cQHaDv&mediaurl=https%3a%2f%2fwww.lafilm.edu%2fwp-
content%2fuploads%2f2017%2f04%2fwalt-disne

Frank Gehry also have some of the international rewards, some of the rewards are Pritzker
Architecture Prize (1989); Wolf Prize in Arts (1992); Praemium Imperiale in Architecture,
Japan Art Association (1992); Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize (1994); Chrysler Design Award
(1995); US National Medal of Arts (1998); Gold Medal, American Institute of Architects
(1999); Royal Gold Medal, Royal Institute of British Architects (2000); Lifetime Achievement
Award, Americans for the Arts (2000); Henry C. Turner Prize for Innovation in Construction
Technology (2007); and US Presidential Medal of Freedom (2016).

Most of the building that designed by Frank Gehry are using black box method. Black
box is the method that the architect makes the sketch of the building for the first step of their
design process.

Frank Gehry's way of seeing the world is like a union of thoughts represented through
buildings, music and art which are not well expressed through the neat and clean simplicity of
the Modernism square. Even the White Box, which became the hallmark of architects in the
20th century, did not match Frank Gehry's methods. Gehry saw this kind of architecture as too
strong for the lives of the people living in it and instead favored buildings and interiors that
served as backdrops for life.

According to Frank Gehry the goal of an architect is "To design something one wants to
be a part of, something one wants to visit and enjoy in an effort to improve one's quality of
life." Gehry considers a building or architecture as a place to express human feelings through
inert materials. It wants to create and create feelings or emotional responses that are not only
comforting but also enlightening.

Frank Gehry is an architect who rarely puts his ideas into writing, but he immediately
applies them in design. In the early 70's, Gehry began to implement his ideas by exploring the
main strength of unfinished construction, with cheap materialization, but the completion with
modern technology. These ideas he applied to the design of his own home in Santa Monica,
1978 which contributed to the development of regional styles in Los Angeles, the city where
he has worked since 1962.
 Gehry said that the work of an architect and an artist is not much different, he has always
felt that the work of a painting artist who works with brush and canvas gives the right lesson
to an architect in determining the use of color, size, and composition in the architect's design.
The art approach in the completion of Frank Gehry's architectural works is a process of
searching for the meaning of art itself which in the end becomes the basis for his ideas. Gehry
also said that “I search out the work of artists and use art as a means of inspiration. I try ridding
myself…. of the burden of culture and look for new ways to approach the work. I want to be
open ended. There are no rules, no right or wrong. I'm confused as to what's ugly and what is
pretty".

From this statement, it can be concluded that art inspired Gehry to create his architectural
works, and he also wanted to open his mind to make a new breakthrough in approaches to
design in the world of architecture.

In Gehry's works he shows his ability to balance imagination and professionalism. Gehry
is also more concerned with the influence of sculptural art and compositional aspects compared
to the function of program requirements in the process of his design work. In several of Gehry's
interviews with architectural magazines, he mentioned that his architectural concept is a
metaphorical concept. This is reinforced by several architectural observers such as Brian Nank,
Scott Cantlell, and Dennis, who frankly identify the concept of metaphor in Frank Gehry's
works, especially in the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain.

“I think pluralism is wonderful. That is the American way. Individual expression. It has
not hurt us in painting and sculpture. It has not hurt us in literature. And it will not hurt us in
architecture” this is a statement made by Gehry because of his preference for plurality, for
Gehry the concept of pluralism is something beautiful.

Gehry often makes several sketches for the concept he has in mind, then to make the
sketches come true, Gehry and the experts in his office use the same program as CATIA.
CATIA is the name of a computer software program developed in France and used in the
aircraft industry which functions to translate eccentric shapes in planning into polynomial
equations. the use of this computer program made a major contribution to the realization of
Gehry's crazy ideas which could not easily be solved by manual drawing methods.

The imagination that Gehry applies to his designs is a design that is dynamic, lively, and
energetic, both in shape, color, and space as well as in the texture of his works. His imagination
is always based on the movement of fish which he has often observed since childhood,
supported by his intellect and professionalism in architecture. Gehry, who looks far into the
future and has a high understanding of plurality, makes him think that architects must think
about the future of the next generation, and we as an architect must be able to make something
that use full for the future.

Gehry does not want to be fixated on something that has become a standard, that is why
Gehry's works really give people the freedom to appreciate or judge according to their own
perception depending on each person's understanding. Gehry responds to the times with the
expression of his cultural background. He sees that the world is getting busier, time run faster,
so that the concept of architecture with busy, dynamic, and frenzied concepts is considered as
a representation of today's society. it is not surprising that Gehry's architectural works are full
of imagination showing dynamic movement.
 One of the buildings designed by Gehry and also very famous is the Guggenheim
Museum, Bilbao, Spain. This project is the most interesting project for Gehry, even the Spanish
king Juan Carlos called this museum the best building of his century, architect observers like
Philip Johnson were also amazed at Gehry's work on this one he said that this building was the
greatest building of our time. The Guggenheim Museum is a competition organized by the
Guggenheim Foundation and the French Government to revitalize Bilbao, this contest is worth
US$100 Million.

If Frank L. Wright's Guggenheim in New York is an architectural work which is a

building that indicates a work that unites with nature or an organic themed building, while
Frank Gehry's Guggenheim is like a sparkling pillar of extrinsically formed patterns and looks
like floating.

The Guggenheim Museum is a museum that stands on an area of 32,700m2, south of the
Nervion River, Bilbao, Spain. The city of Bilbao is a commercial area, ship industry, and
trading ship roads, so the existence of the Guggenheim Museum adds to the bustling
atmosphere of the city of Bilbao. The building consists of a series of mobs that have a focus in
the form of an atrium at the center with a shock scale.

Gehry's crazy imagination with dynamic forms and metaphorical concepts of fish and
human habits that are getting busier from time to time, combined with his intellect and
professionalism in the world of architecture and art, we can see from the Guggenheim Museum
that has become the center of attention of many people. To convey his ideas about the
metaphorical concept of fish and the busy atmosphere of humans at this time, Gehry created a
space that has a dynamic, lively and energetic nuance, giving the same impression as the busy
city of Bilbao which is an industrial and metropolitan city.

Intricate folding, an idea that intersects

sculpture and composition, compared to the space
or program that has become standard. The exterior
of this museum uses titanium which has a texture
resembling the texture of fish scales, making the
concept of the fish metaphor from Frank Gehry
even stronger.

the most prominent part in the photo beside

Figure7 Source: https://www.dosde.com/discover/wp-
is representative of the fish tail, the fish looks like
content/uploads/2017/03/exterior-museo-
guggenheim-bilbao.jpg it is diving into a building.

The Guggenheim Museum looks like it is

floating, and is the result of a combination of
Gehry's high imagination and professionalism in
the world of architecture and art. This also creates
many different perceptions from observers, such as
the concept of plurality which does not want a
single meaning.

Figure 8 Source:
https://photos.eltiempo.es/51/86/ab5801e3b44eb271
9d0d5a76f1c6aa6a_720x560.jpg
 The concept of abstract lines that Gehry applied to the design of the Guggenheim
Museum is a dynamic, active and lively concept, with curved and angular lines found on every
side of this building. The concept is of course inspired by the hustle and bustle and metaphor
of fish to become a museum building that invites people's imagination of the two inspirational
concepts contained in the concept.

The Excited line represents Gehry who was

very excited in designing this building, he even said
that this building was the most interesting project for
him.

The lively line is his concept in designing the

Guggenheim Museum where he raises the
metaphorical concept of fish and human busyness in
the city of Bilbao.
Figure 9 source
file:///C:/Users/Asus/Downloads/Gehry_artikel%20(
1).pdf Energetic lines representing fish that can
move swiftly in the water are also applied to this
building.

The last is wild line, this is Frank Gehry's characteristic, where he always amazes us,
and surprises us with the results of his designs that are wild and unimaginable by people in
general. So often he uses this wild concept, we who often see his buildings will assume that all
buildings that have a similar concept are the work of Frank Gehry.

What is inside the mind of Frank Gehry are, architecture is also a branch of art, so we
must apply art to the buildings we will design, and also how our buildings will affect the future
generations after us. For his concept he is often inspired by the movements of goldfish which
he often observes from childhood, and he also analyzes the environment and atmosphere in the
area around the place where the building he is designing will be erected and adopts the concept
from that.

SOURCE:

“Frank Gehry - Wikipedia.” Frank Gehry - Wikipedia, 23 June 2022,

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Gehry.

Widahningsih Lilis, Post-modernisme dalam Karya Arsitektur Frank O. Gehry: Antara

Imajinasi dan Profesionalisme, Gehry_artikel.pdf (upi.edu)