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Remembering the iconic designs of architect Frank Gehry

05:54
This Oct. 20, 2003 file photo shows early morning sun illuminating the new Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles. (Nick Ut/AP)
This Oct. 20, 2003 file photo shows early morning sun illuminating the new Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles. (Nick Ut/AP)

Frank Gehry, whose designs reshaped modern architecture, died Friday at the age of 96. Born Frank Goldberg to a working-class family in Toronto, he dazzled people around the world with sculptural buildings that seemed to tumble through the air.

FILE - A view of the Dancing House in Prague, Czech Republic, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. (Petr David Josek/AP)
FILE - A view of the Dancing House in Prague, Czech Republic, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. (Petr David Josek/AP)

Gehry is famous for monumental works like the Guggenheim Bilbao, the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago. Before he could get those big-budget commissions, however, Gehry spent decades struggling against the architectural establishment.

Athletic Bilbao fans wait in front of the Guggenheim museum as support boats pass before team celebrations on the Nervion Estuary in Bilbao, Spain, Thursday, April 11, 2024. (Alvaro Barrientos/AP)
Athletic Bilbao fans wait in front of the Guggenheim museum as support boats pass before team celebrations on the Nervion Estuary in Bilbao, Spain, Thursday, April 11, 2024. (Alvaro Barrientos/AP)

He played with corrugated steel and chain link fences, making art out of everyday materials. He shattered the plan of his 1920s bungalow in Santa Monica, California like a cubist painter playing with perspective, exposing angular wood beams and opening up the kitchen with off-kilter windows.

A model of Frank Gehry's residence , built in Santa Monica, California, is presented at the Pompidou Center in Paris, Monday Oct. 6, 2014, as part of a retrospective on American-Canadian architect Frank Gehry. (Remy de la Mauviniere/AP)
A model of Frank Gehry's residence , built in Santa Monica, California, is presented at the Pompidou Center in Paris, Monday Oct. 6, 2014, as part of a retrospective on American-Canadian architect Frank Gehry. (Remy de la Mauviniere/AP)

Here & Now's Robin Young speaks with design critic Alexandra Lange about the life and work of Gehry.

This segment aired on December 8, 2025.

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