The Ray and Maria Stata Center is an academic building on the campus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It was built by the Pritzker-Prize winning architect Frank Gehry. The building was opened in 2004. At first, Gehry’s work was praised by critics saying the the curved walls, varying material of the exterior, and daring wall angles represented the freedom, daring, and creativity of the research that’s supposed to occur inside it. Gehry was known for pushing the limit, literally defying gravity, and complicated structures. Later on many issues arose with the Stata Center. MIT sued Gehry and the construction companies for “providing deficient design services and drawings.” Those issues led to mold, leaky springs, drainage backup and masonry cracks. Frank Gehry tried to explain that with complicated structures and the use of value engineering (cutting out items to lower the building cost) comes trade-offs. Essentially, Gehry believed that MIT was after his insurance.

My thoughts on the building are mediocre. I think it is very strange to have such a unique structure on a college campus, especially MIT. However, I do find the structure’s uniqueness very impressive. For it to go up so many stories then split into separate towers is pretty neat. I think if the building was elsewhere or next to some of his other works, I would appreciate it more and so would others.

The Louis Vuitton Foundation building is located in Paris, France. Prior to construction in 2008 Gehry imagined architecture similar to the Palamarium and Grand Palais. The foundation is 2 stories with 11 galleries and a 350 person auditorium. The exterior is made of glass and stainless steel. At the top of the building, the glass structures had to be light weight so they would not weigh down the building. While the idea for the building was set in stone, the local administrations that were in charge of the park near the lot, were against production. The building permit was finally created in 2011.

In my opinion, I think the building is really neat. The architecture and mix of steel and glass really set the building apart from other museums and such. I also believe that the building also fits in with other buildings that Gehry has created.

Formerly known as the Experience Music Project, Frank Gehry designed the now Museum of POP in Seattle, Washington. First glance at the building may have you confused. Critics have many opinions on this work of Gehry’s. It has been named one of the ugliest buildings, looking like a blob and being nicknamed “The Hemorrhoids,”  while others believe it is the most fitting of backdrops for the museum celebrating the works of Jimi Hendrix. The idea for the building came from smashed guitars. The exterior is made of wavy sheet metal that resemble other works of Gehry- the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Guggenheim Museum Building and the Gehry tower. The outside of the tower consists of a mixture of gold, silver, red, blue and a “shimmering purple haze.” Part of the exterior is shown in the interior of the building as well. An 800 person concert venue called the Sky church boasts 70-foot ceilings and state of the art sound, lighting, and LED screen.

In my opinion, this is my least favorite building of Gehry’s. I agree with the critics that say it looks like a blob on the ground. I wish there was more structure to it.

Google the Dancing House– it looks like a misfit straight out of a comic strip. Formerly (and sometimes) known as Fred and Ginger, this building was designed by both Frank Gehry and Vlado Milunic, a Croatian-Czech architect. The Dancing House is located in Prague, Czech Republic on a historic plot of land. Once there was a house destroyed by the US bombing of Prague in 1945. The plot had laid vacant and empty for a while. During that time, the to future President, Vaclav Havel, lived on the neighboring plot. Once elected, Havel contacted Milunic and asked him to create something in hopes of creating a cultural center. The funder of the land encouraged Milunic to pair with another renowned architect to create a design. At first he chose a French architect, but he turned down the job due to the small square footage. Next, Milunic asked Gehry and he complied. The bank was so excited for the project they provided unlimited funding.

The style of the Dancing House is known as “New Baroque.” There are 99 concrete panels, each with different shapes and dimensions to create the dancing effect. Two towers make up the body of the building. The first one is a tower of glass, where the windows all align. The second tower runs parallel to the riverfront with windows that create a wavy motion due to there missing alignment. Both the towers were to create a “Yin and Yang” idea, which would represent Czechoslovakia’s transition of a communist regime to a parliamentary democracy. Gehry originally named the house Fred and Ginger (named after the famous American dancers Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers), but later refrained from terming it that as the building received criticism for not fitting in with the surroundings.

The idea and symbolism behind the Dancing House is very neat. I can only imagine the design and structural layout to keep the building standing.

The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is located in Basque Country, Spain. The building was inaugurated in October 1997. What makes this building so special is the fact that it was a signal moment in the architectural culture because it represents a rare moment where critics, academics, and the general public were all completely united about something. It even so happens that the building was finished on time and on budget.  When Gehry was asked how he managed that he said he focused on preventing business and political interests from interfering, made sure he had a realistic cost estimate, and used computer visualizations from his own software.

The Guggenheim Foundation selected Gehry and encouraged him to build something “daring and innovative.” The exterior was to have random curves to catch the eye and light. The interior of the building is a large light-filled atrium with views of the surrounding Basque Country. Gehry received many awards and recognitions from the Guggenheim Museum. Many said it was the greatest building of our time and “a fantastic dream ship of undulating form in a cloak of titanium.” The dreamy part can be reveled from the fish scale looking exterior.

The museum not only did wonders for Frank Gehry’s name, but also for the city  of Bilbao. Construction of the museum was due to high hopes of revitalization. After completion, Bilbao became a popular tourist attraction thanks to Gehry’s incredible design in architecture.

The Walt Disney Concert Hall was opened in downtown Los Angeles, California on October 24, 2003. Not only does it serve as a home for the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra and Los Angeles Master Chorale, it can seat over 2,300 people for other concerts and events. The Walt Disney Concert Hall exemplifies contemporary architecture. Frank Gehry has been praised for the unique design of architecture and one of a kind acoustics within the hall.  The exterior is made up of stainless steel curves while the interior has a hardwood-paneled main auditorium to provide state of the art acoustics.

Gehry even helped design the organ himself. He wanted something that no one had ever seen and something to match the creativeness of the building.  After many plans, a curved wooden pipe concept was chosen. It is one of the many structures that provides incredible acoustics.