Frank Gehry, World-Renowned Architect, Back at the Parsons Table
Speaking to not one, but two jam-packed auditoriums at The New School last week, university president David Van Zandt highlighted the bond between Frank Gehry and Parsons School of Design.
He noted that Gehry was the first-ever guest of At the Parsons Table, an ongoing series of interviews with cultural luminaries hosted by Pulitzer Prizeâwinning architect and former Parsons dean Paul Goldberger.
He then discussed the connection between Parsonsâ pedagogical approach and Gehryâs creative vision.
âDesign is not just about arts and crafts, or engineering; itâs about people and how we improve their lives,â Van Zandt said to both the audience at the Tishman Auditorium and the audience watching the video feed of the event from The Auditorium at 66 West 12th Street. âDesign is about human interface, human beings. The hallmarks of Mr. Gehryâs work reflect exactly that: He designs so that people can exist comfortably in the spaces he creates.â
Gehry, the world-famous architect known for his cityscape-altering museums and concert halls, was welcomed with open arms by the New School community during his return to At the Parsons Table. During the intimate conversation with Goldberger, Gehry discussed his buildings and working methods, favorable reactions to and backlash against his work, and the importance of finding oneâs artistic voice.
To the delight of the architecture enthusiasts in attendance, Gehry gave a play-by-play of the creation of some of his iconic buildings. He delved into the design of his building at 8 Spruce Street in New York City (âthe first building that was parallel to the Woolworthâ), the Walt Disney Concert Hall (âa real people place that solves a problemâ), and the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao (a building that âhad an incredible economic impactâ on the Spanish city).
Gehryâs buildingsâlarge-scale construction wonders that stand out dramatically from their surroundingsâhave transformed the urban environments in which theyâre situated. One striking example is the Guggenheim Bilbao, which catapulted the northerly Spanish metropolis from obscurity when the museum opened in 1997.
âIt changed the culture and politics of the city,â Gehry said of the structure. âI didnât know you could do that.â
While Gehry has garnered critical and public acclaim for his work, not all of the reviews have been favorable. As Goldberger, author of the recently published book Building Art: The Life and Work of Frank Gehry, noted, Gehryâs buildings have often been criticized for being garish and expensive.
âWhat do you make of that perceptionâor misperception: the notion that everything you do is weird, along with the notion that everything you do is too expensive?â Goldberger asked.
âIt may be weird, but itâs a comfortable weird,â Gehry said, adding that his work is sometimes misunderstood.
âIf you make a building, you want it to be something thatâs uplifting, a place you want to be in, a place that makes you feel good, that gives you something to think about every dayâsomething that adds to the mystery of life,â he said.
The price tag for his buildings, Gehry said, is often overstated.
âIf I go to an audience of business executives and ask, âHow many people think Guggenheim Bilbao was expensive?â all the hands go up,â he said. âBut it was only $300 a square foot, which was pretty economical for the time. Spending a lot of money isn’t crucial to making great architecture.â
What is crucial, Gehry said, is âfinding your languageââhoming in on a visual style that differentiates you from other designers. Gehry knows from experience that âpeople may like or hate your language, but you donât have to worry about it, because youâre the only one who knows what it is.â
âA lot of us worry about what other people think, whether youâre at the back of the line or the front of the line,â he added. âI was at the back of the line so many times.â
Through his human-centered approachâan approach embraced at ParsonsâGehry has made it to, and stayed at, the front of the line of the architecture and design world.