Widely recognized as one of the most innovative architects of the contemporary era, Frank O. Gehry’s landmark architectural designs include the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Spain, the Walt Disney Concert Hall in LA, the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle, and MOCA’s own Geffen Contemporary. Frank O. Gehry: Work in Progress highlights the architect’s unique design process by examining twelve projects and commissions “in progress” at Gehry Partners. Of them, only one design is scheduled to be finished this year, with the others at varying stages of completion. The installation thus traces Gehry’s working process from rough, digital program models to original sketches; to the dozens of physical study models made for each project; through the final physical model; and into schematic digitization. In doing so, the exhibition mimicks the atmosphere of Gehry Partners’ working environment, with shelves, tables, and model stands based on the plywood vocabulary of the architect’s studio.
The exhibition included architectural renderings, photography, and sample materials alongside the sketches and models. Featured designs included the Ray and Maria Stata Center at MIT in Cambridge; the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena; the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC; and international projects in Spain, Canada, Italy, Panama, and Israel.
Frank O. Gehry: Work in Progress is organized by Brook Hodge, Curator of Architecture and Design, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.