A building crumpled like tissue paper, metal exterior walls that seem to be crashing waves...
The architectural works he left behind were one innovation after another.

In December last year, Frank Gehry, a world-renowned architect who passed away at the age of 96, is regarded as one of the most original and influential figures in the history of modern architecture.

World-renowned architect Frank Gehry is raising the World Cup of Hockey championship trophy he personally designed at a press conference held in Toronto on May 12, 2004 (left). On October 5, 2023, Frank Gehry, the awardee and architect, poses at the '2023 Los Angeles Philharmonic Gala' held at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. /AP Yonhap News

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Frank Gehry was born in Toronto, Canada in 1929 and grew up in a Jewish working-class family. As a child, he played with screws, nails, and tools in his grandfather's hardware store-an experience that later inspired him to boldly incorporate rough industrial materials into his architecture.

In 1947, he moved to Los Angeles with his family, majored in architecture at the University of Southern California, and studied urban planning at Harvard University before establishing his career in the United States. He swept major awards, including the Pritzker Prize, which is often called the Nobel Prize of architecture, in 1989. He also received the Royal Gold Medal from the Royal Institute of British Architects, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Academy of Arts, and the Order of Canada.

(▼ Here are some of his representative works.)

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The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, a northern industrial city in Spain, is one of Frank Gehry's signature works. Opened in 1997, this building, with its radical titanium-clad form, shook the architectural world at the time and single-handedly transformed a declining city into a world-renowned cultural and tourism destination. The phenomenon of a single building boosting a city’s competitiveness even led to the coining of the term "Bilbao Effect."

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LVMH

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Gehry's most notable work in Korea is 'Louis Vuitton Maison Seoul,' which opened in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul, in 2019. For this design, he drew inspiration from the solidity of Suwon Hwaseong Fortress and the elegant movements of the Dongnae Crane Dance, reinterpreting traditional Korean aesthetics through modern glass curves.

"The Jazz Performer of 21st Century Architecture" "The Rule Breaker"
He left behind over 70 works in a 60-year architectural career.

Even in his 80s, he remained highly active and reigned as a superstar in the architecture world, but there were also critical views.

Some critics pointed out that his buildings focused more on flashy exteriors than functionality, causing disharmony with the surrounding environment, and were excessively ostentatious.

"His later works are spectacular architecture solely for attracting tourists" - Hal Foster, Art Critic at Princeton University

However, the silver curved buildings left by Frank Gehry still clearly provide powerful artistic inspiration to people around the world.

“A masterpiece is born only when the architect's passion is conveyed to the viewer” - Frank Gehry