Frank Gehry, visionary architect behind Walt Disney Concert Hall, dies at 96

Los Angeles [US], December 6 : Renowned architect Frank Gehry, whose innovative designs reshaped skylines around the world, has died at his home in Santa Monica, according to multiple reports, Deadline said. He was 96.

Gehry, a Canadian-American visionary known for pushing the boundaries of modern architecture, transformed public spaces with his bold, sculptural use of steel, glass and wood.

According to Deadline, among his most iconic contributions is the Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles, recognised for its gleaming curved stainless-steel exterior that reflects changing light, giving it a dynamic, almost musical presence. The interior, home to the L.A. Philharmonic, is regarded as one of the most acoustically sophisticated performance spaces in the world, featuring Douglas-fir panelling and an oak-finished floor.

Internationally, Gehry revolutionised Bilbao, Spain, with the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, widely credited with transforming the industrial city into a global cultural destination. He also designed technology campuses for giants such as Google and Facebook.

In New York, Gehry's first full-building project, the IAC Building, completed in 2007 for Barry Diller's internet company, features twisting tower forms and floor-to-ceiling glass that fades from clear to white to soften sunlight. The building has appeared in films including The Other Guys (2010) and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010).

More recently, he designed the Second Century Project for Warner Bros. in Burbank, two LEED-certified commercial towers totalling 800,000 square feet, resembling sculpted blocks of ice stacked atop one another.

Gehry's contributions earned him the highest honours in his field, including the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1989 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama in 2016. He studied architecture at the University of Southern California and later pursued city planning at Harvard University.

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