Frank Gehry, the renowned Canadian-American architect, has passed away at the age of 96.
The most recognisable American architect since Frank Lloyd Wright died at his home in Santa Monica, Los Angeles, on Friday, December 5, reported Al Jazeera.
The chief of staff at his firm, Gehry Partners LLP, Meaghan Lloyd, while confirming Gehry’s death, revealed that the architect died after a brief respiratory illness.
French billionaire and CEO of the LVMH group, Bernard Arnault, while paying tribute to Gehry, said, “Frank Gehry, who possessed an unparalleled gift for shaping forms, pleating glass like canvas, and making it dance like a silhouette, will long endure as a living source of inspiration for Louis Vuitton.”
Gehry, who was inspired by modern pop, is known for designing unique and imaginative buildings. His incredible structures include the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and the DZ Bank Building in Berlin.
He also designed a new part of Facebook’s Northern California headquarters at the request of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Shortly after his 90th birthday, he told The Guardian, “I love working. I love working things out. I love the client interaction; I think it’s a 50-50 game. I love that we do what we do and bring it in under budget, which no one believes, but it’s true.”
During his celebrated career, Gehry won numerous prestigious awards, including the Pritzker Prize, architecture's top honour, for his "refreshingly original and totally American" work.
He was also honoured with the Royal Institute of British Architects gold medal, the Americans for the Arts lifetime achievement award and his native country’s highest honour, the Companion of the Order of Canada.
