[HN Gopher] Frank Gehry has died
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       Frank Gehry has died
        
       Author : ksajadi
       Score  : 65 points
       Date   : 2025-12-05 21:31 UTC (1 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.bbc.co.uk)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.bbc.co.uk)
        
       | ChrisArchitect wrote:
       | NYT obit https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/arts/design/frank-
       | gehry-d... (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46166034)
        
       | losvedir wrote:
       | He designed the Stata center at MIT. I know it's had lots of
       | problems (leaks and other issues) because of its wonky design.
       | But I always liked walking by, and thought of it as a Dr Seuss
       | building.
        
         | BeetleB wrote:
         | They sued him for it:
         | 
         | https://thetech.com/2010/03/19/statasuit-v130-n14
        
           | bombcar wrote:
           | " neglige0nce"
           | 
           | Weird article. Maybe OCR?
        
         | ternus wrote:
         | Anecdotally, the professors I talked to in the building hated
         | it. Non-rectilinear walls and oddly-shaped offices made it
         | difficult to put up bookcases and desks. The windows were all
         | custom, meaning if one broke, it was difficult to replace. And,
         | of course, the aforementioned leaks.
         | 
         | I was in the Radio Society and had access to the Green Building
         | (50) roof. The Stata Center actually looks coherent from that
         | angle, and you can tell that was the angle the designers and
         | approvers had been seeing it from (in model form) the whole
         | time.
        
       | forks wrote:
       | RIP. 8 Spruce is a personal favorite.
        
         | eclipticplane wrote:
         | Agreed, such a great structure in NYC's skyline. Lived on 73
         | for a few years. The contoured windows and benches inside were
         | just as fun as the exterior.
         | 
         | Still don't understand why they stuck a red brick school in the
         | middle and didn't contour it with the stainless steel panels
         | like the rest of the building.
        
       | onionisafruit wrote:
       | I first heard of him through The Simpsons and will forever think
       | of "Hey Frank Gehry! like curvilinear forms, much?" when I hear
       | his name.
        
       | SteveGerencser wrote:
       | I got to meet Frank in the mid 90s while studying architecture in
       | New Mexico. He was incredibly generous with his time and ideas to
       | us students that stayed extra late to catch him touring the
       | studios with the dean around midnight. His midnight critique of
       | my design that was due the next morning made me throw it out and
       | start over to include some of his ideas.
        
       | ssttoo wrote:
       | He also designed a Facebook's office in Menlo Park. The roof was
       | literally a park, seemingly blending with the bay and you could
       | go for a nice nature stroll mid-day by just going up a flight of
       | stairs. https://arquitecturaviva.com/works/facebook-campus-in-
       | menlo-...
        
         | ipsum2 wrote:
         | I worked in this building. It was terrible. Low light,
         | completely open office, people walking around you all the time,
         | extremely noisy, pretty ugly (the roof-top garden was the
         | exception). My team expensed noise cancelling headphones
         | because it was so loud.
         | 
         | MPK 22 was also designed by Gehry Partners, which was a massive
         | improvement on the inside, but outside is still kinda terrible
         | in my opinion: https://www.truebeck.com/project/facebook-
         | mpk-22/
        
           | quickthrowman wrote:
           | Architects like Frank Gehry don't design the inside of a
           | building, they make a nice artistic exterior and delegate the
           | rest.
           | 
           | Interior architecture is done by psychopaths who never have
           | to suffer through their 'innovations'. I work in commercial
           | construction and am not a fan of architects in general, I
           | vastly prefer working on projects led by a mechanical or
           | electrical engineer.
        
           | pavlov wrote:
           | I've spent some time there, and it did seem like a building
           | that was primarily designed for satellite view -- never mind
           | what goes on inside.
        
       | npunt wrote:
       | I grew up a few blocks from his funky Santa Monica house [1],
       | passed by it all the time. When you're a kid you typically see
       | wild new things like that as just normal because you have no
       | context for how unusual they are. His house defied that
       | perspective; even as a kid you understand that being wrapped in
       | oddly angled chain link fences and corrugated metal is just...
       | different. It's an unanswered question, a loose thread, a thing
       | you can't unknow.
       | 
       | I don't particularly like the house - it's meant to be
       | challenging not beautiful - but with perspective I see now there
       | aren't many creations out there that achieve existence in eternal
       | confusion like it does for me. I see his other works like Bilbao
       | [2] and Disney Hall as refinements on the concept with the added
       | dimension of beauty. They're not quite as memorable, but I think
       | do a great job exploring the frontier of beauty and befuddlement.
       | 
       | [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gehry_Residence
       | 
       | [2] especially the aerial perspective
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guggenheim_Museum_Bilbao#/medi...
        
         | detourdog wrote:
         | I saw him speak about that house and at that time he was having
         | a really hard time living in the suburban mindset. He wanted to
         | offend.
         | 
         | I'm jealous that you knew it so well and as just another house.
        
         | brudgers wrote:
         | It's the building that put Gehry on the map...it was published
         | in the Record House issue of _Architectural Record_ when the
         | magazine was officially associated with the AIA.
         | 
         | For perspective Gehry was in his forties and had been
         | practicing architecture for many years.
        
       | brcmthrowaway wrote:
       | Who else gets confused between Frank Gehry and Frank Lloyd
       | Wright?
        
         | tmp10423288442 wrote:
         | Nope
        
         | cowsandmilk wrote:
         | Beyond sharing a first name, they don't share much in common.
         | And Frank Lloyd Wright died about the time Frank Gehry started.
        
       | themafia wrote:
       | As an artist I appreciate Frank Gehry.
       | 
       | As an engineer I detest Frank Gehry.
        
         | christkv wrote:
         | I think the only one I consider worse is Calatrava from an
         | engineering perspective
        
         | Fricken wrote:
         | If you think of him as a sculptor more than an architect it's
         | nothing to get upset about.
        
       | Polizeiposaune wrote:
       | From 2002: "Frank Gehry No Longer Allowed To Make Sandwiches For
       | Grandkids":
       | 
       | https://theonion.com/frank-gehry-no-longer-allowed-to-make-s...
       | 
       | (just a picture, no story).
        
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