Conversations with Frank Gehry
by Barbara Isenberg
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Book Summary Information
Author: Barbara IsenbergEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Format: Deckle Edge
Published: 2009-04-21
ISBN: 0307268004
Number of pages: 320
Publisher: Knopf
Book Reviews of Conversations with Frank Gehry
Book Review: From Wood, Stucco to Steel, Titanium & Beyond
Summary: 5 Stars
For a long time I have been following the architectural work of Frank Gehry, through articles in the media. Each time I see his work it appears very sculptural and different from the norm. I wonder how does he justify these buildings fitting in the context? How does he conceive the concept? How does he synthesize the form? Surely his mind must be different and there must be a lot more to his mind than meets the eye. With this questions galore in mind, I was drawn to this book like 'Winnie the pooh' to 'hunny'.
To begin with, the title itself assures the reader that this is not a coffee table book with just pretty pictures. There is an awesome conversation through out the book, that reveals the brilliance of a very creative mind, in his own words. Now for the gist of the book. The book is about the evolution of a creative mind that leads to a fabulous architectural career. In doing so, it takes the reader on a fantastic journey. A journey of buildings that starts with wood, stucco and goes on to steel, titanium and beyond. What it reveals is a heady combination of old world charm and new-age technology. By old world I mean a mind that assimilates, analyses, synthesizes and creates. When you combine this deep thinking with top of the line technology, what you have is a Frank Gehry design.
To illustrate this, there are many examples of how he uses art (mostly paintings) as an inspiration to generate concepts and forms e.g. the Giorgio Morandi's bottle villages made him design homes as villages i.e. each room being an independent entity. He says, "When I discovered the pictures of Morandi, I just went nuts because Morandi was drawing bottles which were essentially one room buildings and creating villages of bottles....You get a lot of stuff out of it. It breaks down the scale. It humanizes without resorting to decoration, so individual pieces can be very tough and industrial even. The architecture is the play between the spaces....It interested me that a building itself could be pretty banal, but if you juxtaposed it with something else you could create an ensemble that was more interesting. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts."
Two more fascinating examples of using a painting for inspiration are about how the pleated headdress in a Vermeer painting inspired him to generate forms in Maggie Centre (Dundee, Scotland) and the Issey Miyake store in New York city. Paintings inspire him so much that he frequently visits museums to remove a mental block!
As for his buildings fitting in the context, one only has to read about it to understand how well they fit. A classic example is the Weisman Art Museum in Minneapolis. The client wanted the museum to relate to the Mississippi river. "Frank chose a gauge of stainless steel that's thin enough so it ripples and breaks up the light in the same way the ripples on the river do... the sunset is reflected off the building in the same way it is reflected off the Mississippi." There are many global projects discussed in the book, that reveal his understanding of the context. It was a treat to read about the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Guggenheim Museum (Bilbao), Stata Center at MIT, Pritzker Pavilion (Chicago), Nationale - Nederlanden Building (Prague) and the IAC building in New York. There is a photo with 30 design options for a single project (Disney Hall). An architect who works that hard is surely best suited for the project.
The dialogue in the book brings out the struggles, agonies and ecstasies of each project. A classic statement that reveals this is when he saw Bilbao for the first time, he said, " Oh my God, what have I done to these people?" The narration also has many lighter moments e.g. when he says, "Neutra was so full of himself " and Frank Lloyd Wright "had a master-slave" hierarchy in his office. You know how he thinks by the way he talks using metaphors. An example that is hard to forget is when he says that many buildings in Paris have a pretty facade and a plain rear elevation. Its like a woman in a Oscar-de-la-renta dress with a curler behind her head! The dialogue is complimented with over 200 photos of his projects and building models. To add to this visual feast are many hand drawn sketches that reveal the genius in his hand. Most of them seem to be minimalist doodles in fluid strokes, drawn with a cool confidence, that comes only with experience.
Besides architecture, it was interesting to read about how his creativity is applied to designing other products e.g. furniture, paper lighting, lamps and jewelry. The story behind the conception of the million dollar Bilbao brooch was truly hilarious.
This book answered all the questions I had posed in my mind about his work. This book demonstrates how a mind can assimilate different sights, people etc to create great architecture. A mind that operates at so many levels is sheer genius and an inspiration to the younger generation of architects. His buildings are a true legacy of his life. The book is inspiring, recharging and makes you see the world in a new light. It may even make you think like Frank Gehry. Thank you Mr. Gehry for creating such a great legacy. In conclusion, this book is a 'must read' and keeper for architects.
Ratna
[...]
Summary of Conversations with Frank Gehry
An unprecedented, intimate, and richly illustrated portrait of Frank Gehry, one of the world?s most influential architects. Drawing on the most candid, revealing, and entertaining conversations she has had with Gehry over the last twenty years, Barbara Isenberg provides new and fascinating insights into the man and his work.Gehry?s subjects range from his childhood?when he first built cities with wooden blocks on the floor of his grandmother?s kitchen?to his relationships with clients and his definition of a ?great? client. We learn about his architectural influences (including Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright) and what he has learned from Michelangelo, Rembrandt, and Rauschenberg.
We explore the thinking behind his designs for the Guggenheim Bilbao and the Walt Disney Concert Hall, the redevelopment of Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn and Grand Avenue in Los Angeles, the Gehry Collection at Tiffany?s, and ongoing projects in Toronto, Paris, Abu Dhabi, and elsewhere. And we follow as Gehry illuminates the creative process by which his ideas first take shape?for example, through early drawings for the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, when the building?s trademark undulating curves were mere scribbles on a page. Sketches, models, and computer images provided by Gehry himself allow us to see how so many of his landmark buildings have come to fruition, step by step.
Conversations with Frank Gehry is essential reading for everyone interested in the art and craft of architecture, and for everyone fascinated by the most iconic buildings of our time, as well as the man and the mind behind them.
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