Top 10 Architects: Zaha Hadid, Santiago Calatrava, Tadao Ando, Cesar Pelli and more

Frank Gehry
Text by Ayesha Khan

Many would be surprised to learn that Frank Gehry flunked his first architecture class. But, convinced of his love for art and design, he gave it a second try. Dozens of iconic commissions, a Pritzker Prize, and a Sydney Pollack documentary later, the world is grateful that he did. “My grandmother played with me on the floor with blocks when I was eight years old in Canada, and she got cuttings for her wood stove from the shop,” says Gehry of his initial introduction to architecture. “They were like band saw and jigsaw cuttings, and they were odd shapes, and we used to play, make fantasy cities.” His mother introduced him to his love for music and museums that would later be the subject of most of his commissions. His most famous projects include the Guggenheim Bilbao, the Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, and the IAC building in New York City. Whether they be clad in titanium or majestically lit glass, a theme of dynamic movement always resonates throughout Gehry’s buildings. “I have been interested in the sense of movement in architecture,” he says. “Maybe it comes from the fast society, the fast world around me, that I’m trying to make some kind of connection to. “Gehry is currently taking his architectural mastery around the world, from Miami Beach, where he is developing the iconic New World Symphony, to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, where he is working on another Guggenheim project.