Frank Gehry was born Frank Owen Goldberg on February 28, 1929, in Toronto, Canada. He studied at the University of Southern California and Harvard University. The Goldberg family was Polish and Jewish. He was creative at his young age, building imaginary homes and cities from items found in his grandfather's hardware store. He is known for his use of bold, postmodern shapes and unusual fabrications. Gehry's most famous designs include theWalt DisneyConcert Hall in Lost Angeles and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.
Gehry relocated to Los Angeles in 1949. It was during this time that he changed his Goldberg surname to Gehry, due to the intense dislike and prejudice against Jewish people.In 1956, Gehry moved to Massachusetts with his wife, Anita Snyder, to enrol at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. He later dropped out of Harvard and divorced his wife, with whom he had two daughters. Later in 1975, Gehry married Berta Isabel Aguilera, and had two more children.
After leaving Harvard, Frank Gehry returned
to California, making a name for himself with the launch of his "Easy
Edges" cardboard furniture line. The Easy Edges pieces, crafted from
layers of corrugated cardboard sold between 1969 and 1973.
Still mainly interested in building rather than furniture design, Gehry remodeled a home for his family in Santa Monica with the money earned from Easy Edges. The remodel involved surrounding the existing bungalow with corrugated steel and chain-link fence, effectively splitting the house open with an angled skylight. Gehry's avant-garde design caught the attention of the architectural world, ultimately launching his career to new heights. He began designing homes in Southern California on a regular basis in the 1980s.
Still mainly interested in building rather than furniture design, Gehry remodeled a home for his family in Santa Monica with the money earned from Easy Edges. The remodel involved surrounding the existing bungalow with corrugated steel and chain-link fence, effectively splitting the house open with an angled skylight. Gehry's avant-garde design caught the attention of the architectural world, ultimately launching his career to new heights. He began designing homes in Southern California on a regular basis in the 1980s.
Once Gehry achieved celebrity status, his
work took on a higher scale. His high-concept buildings, including the Walt
DisneyConcert Hall in downtown Los Angeles, the Dancing House in Prague and the
Guggenheim Museum building in Bilbao, Spain, have become tourist attractions in
their own right.
