Canadian-American architect Frank Grank Gehry, known for his distinctive, unique architectural style around the world, died on Friday at the age of 96.
Gehry died at his home in Santa Monica after a brief respiratory illness, said Meaghan Lloyd, chief of staff at Gehry Partner LLP.
Born Frank Owen Goldberg on February 28, 1929 in Toronto, he showed interest in creating new things. Starting with scraps of wood and eventually graduating to complex items from my grandfather’s hardware store, he had a penchant for original design.
His mother instilled artistic knowledge in him, and these two areas combined well, leading him to develop a well-rounded approach to architecture.
Gehry and his family moved to Los Angeles in 1947, where he attended College City and worked as a delivery truck driver. After the initial understanding and questioning of what he wanted to do with his life, he conscientiously stuck to what made him happy, and that was ART and architecture.
He graduated from the University of Southern California in 1954 with a bachelor’s degree in architecture. Upon graduation, he served a stint in the US Army before returning to college. He enrolled at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, but did not complete the program. Incomparably committed to his ideas and established building practices, Gehry worked at several construction firms before starting his own firm, Frank O. Gerry & Associates, in 1962. It was renamed as GHRY partners in 2002.
His first commercial success was the launch of his “easy” furniture line which sold for a few years. With the money he made from it, Gehry restored his family’s home in Santa Monica.
Gehry’s style – characterized by the use of chain-link fencing and metal installations and twisting forms in the traditional rectangular architecture or flow and curve in non-linear forms – are shown here.
His “avant-Garde” design caught the attention of the architectural world, and after his renovation, his work took off. In the 1980s, he began designing homes in Southern California for publicity.
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His creativity entered the Stratosphere after designing the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. Opening in 1997, it was considered the art of the 20th century “and set the bar for building buildings at that time. It also transformed Bilbao as a whole, pouring money into the coffers of the city.
Aerial view of the Guggenheim Museum of Bilbao (Bilbo) on the northern coast of Spain in the Basque region, Frank O, GROOLM / Universal Pictures Images via Getty Images).
Joe Sohm / Views of America / Universal Pictures Group via Getty Images
Gehry buildings at Medienhafen in Duesseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, on July 30, 2025.
Michael Nguyen / Nurphoto via Getty Images
Exterior of Marques de Riscal Hotel Winery by Frank Gry in Spain.
Sergi Remoredo / VWPICS / VERPICS Image Group via Getty Images
The dance house is a deconcturiative building from Nationale-Nederlanden, designed by Croatian-Czech architect Vlado Mirino in collaboration with Frank Gehry.
Oscar Gonzalez / Nurphoto via Getty Images
The Luma Arles Cultural Center, designed by Architect Frank Gerry, is a 56 meter tower.
Frank Rumpenhorst / photo alliance via Getty Images
In the middle of Millennium Park, the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, a large bandhall made by architect Frank Gerry, with a large stage that can accommodate a full orchestra and chorus of 150 members.
Blancquart C / Andia / Universal Pictures Group via Getty Images
Some of his most famous works include the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris, the Walt Disney Hall in Downtown La, the Vitra Design Museum in Germany and his home above Santa Monica.
In Canada, Gehry reorganized the art gallery of Ontario (past) from 2004 to 2008 in a $276 million renovation. He expanded and renovated the museum to make more money, combining many of the motley parts of the building into a whole. Notably, it was the first of Gehry’s designs to not feature an integrated steel frame for the building’s support system.
In recent years, Gehry returned to academia as a professor of architecture at Columbia University, the University of Southern California and Yale.
He leaves behind his wife of 50 years and four children.
– With files from the accompanying media
& Copy 2025 Global News, Division of Corse Entertainment Inc.
