frank gehry at the vitra design museum

After a fire burned down half of the Vitra campus, they hired a number of budding architects to help rebuild, including one Frank Gehry. Gehry designed the museum as well as entrances to the factories and the gatehouse, completed in 1989. These structures were not only his first European buildings but also his first use of the curving, almost nonsensical structures that would turn into his signature style and starchitect status.

One thing I love about Gehry's buildings is that they are different through all 360 degrees. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A peek over the fence at an entrance to the factory:

And here's the gatehouse:

 

 

lost in LA: Frank Gehry's house

We spent a long weekend in Los Angeles with an architect/builder married couple from Cloudcroft to show them around town and gawk at architecture (including some Schindlers [of course!]). Over the next several weeks, I'll be posting about various stops on the trip.

The Cloudcroft Couple likes Frank Gehry, so stopping at Gehry's house was a must. Borged in 1978 in Santa Monica, Gehry controversially deconstructed an existing Dutch Colonial ("A dumb little house with charm") with a "balance of fragment and whole, raw and defined, new and old." I say "borged" because he glommed expressionist additions of common materials such as corrugated siding and chain link fence ("shadow mesh") around the existing house. The neighbors were furious, threatening to sue and comparing the home to a Tijuana sausage factory.

The house is, indeed, a bit out of place in the neighborhood, although the landscaping has occluded much of the front of the house, softening its impact on the neighbors. Gehry appears to have built right up to the setback limits and surely pushed the boundaries of the building code, using the original asphalt driveway on the side of the house as the floor for the kitchen and dining room. Nonetheless, the house was widely considered a masterpiece. Ironically, when Gehry further modified the house in 1991 to accommodate his growing family, architectural critics criticized his modifications.

Gehry still owns the house even though he is building (has built?) a new home overlooking Rustic Canyon. At some point, it will surely be a house museum.

“… I loved the idea of leaving the house intact… I came up with the idea of building a new home about. We were told there were ghosts in the house… I decided they were ghosts of cubism. Windows… I wanted to make them look like they’re dragging. At night, since the glass is tilted reflect light… So when you are sitting at this table all these cars are passing by, you see the moon in the wrong place… the moon is there but it reflects here… and you think it’s there and do not know where the hell are you… ” Frank Gehry

photos of the interior below from ArchDaily wikiarquitectura, and thoughtco:

more from Architect Magazine, 

dancing with architecture: seattle, washington

I've been to Seattle before, but could only accomplish short side walks from the hotel since I was on business. I was on business on this trip, but since I was coming from Denver (instead of flying from Denver to Austin, spending the night, and then getting up the next day to fly to Seattle), I had a chance to enjoy a cold drizzly day tromping about town before meeting bidness obligations the next day. And, of course, when I had to be inside all day doing big boy stuff, it was sunny and gorgeous. That's the roulette wheel of Seattle.

I started the day at the Biscuit Bitch with a hearty (but not heart-healthy) meal and then marched over to the grounds of the 1962 World's Fair to gawk at the Space Needle and Frank Gehry's. After that I visited the stunning Olympic Sculpture Park on the north side of downtown. I then checked out several Olson Kundigs (and enjoyed a Stumptown) before paying respects at Rem Koolhaus's central library. All in all a cold, rainy, and great day!

The Needle, designed by John Graham and Company (although Victor Steinbrueck, an architectural consultant on the project, claims design credit) was painted Astronaut White and is topped by a rotating restaurant so perfectly balanced that it is powered by a 1.5 horsepower motor.

The Federal Science Pavilion by Yamasaki:

Based on the photos of Frank Gehry's Museum of Pop Culture (originally called the Experience Music Project) completed in 2000, I thought it was a derivative project. However, seeing it in person has changed my mind. And like any classic Gehry's, this thing is gorgeous and fascinating from every angle. A unique aspect of this building is how it successfully engages the street at the human scale. I'll need to come back and see it on a sunny day!

The train travels through the middle!

On the north side of downtown on a challenging, sloped lot sliced by a four-lane road and two train tracks is Olympic Sculpture Park. The park zigzags down the slope up and around the road and tracks to the bay in the most beautiful and ingenious way, creating epic views and cozy crooks and crannies for sculpture. The project was designed by Weiss/Manfredi and opened in 2007 (you can tell they are proud of it since it is still the splash photo on their front page). This is a must see in urban parkery.

If I ever start my own archictural movement, it will be defined by alleytecture:

I hiked out to several Olson Kundig structures in town. OK are one of my fave architects of today. Where they really excel (imho...) is in cabins and houses. Sadly, their design principles don't seem to export well to larger commissions, at least not in an immediately identifiable way.

A Olson Kundig project, 2nd and Pike, under construction downtown.

The mid-rise Art Stable does successfully transfer the OK aesthetic to a larger building. Note the enormous windows that can hinge outwards.

OK's 1111 East Pike

Stormwater harvesting...

STUMPTOWN!!!

The weather was deteriorating quickly at this point, but I had to pay respects to Rem Koolhaus's Seattle Public Library.

View out my hotel window.

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