Essays on Frank Gehry

Trans-World Flight Center, John F. Kennedy Airport (1956-1962)

Opened in 1962, the Trans World Flight Center of the John F. Kennedy Airport is one of the finest structures belonging to the Organic Modern Period that emerged in the mid-20th century.1 What makes this style truly remarkable was the fact that it is based on neo-futuristic designs as well as embodying strict adherence to geometrical proportions, the creation of functional space for the passengers, aircraft, employees, and maintaining harmonious interaction of the structure in its environment.2 The structure was designed by Eero Saarinen, a notable architect and one of the prolific figures that proposed designing the concept of ...

05th of May 2016

Among the outstanding architectural masterpieces of the XX century the Guggenheim Museum at Bilbao definitely stands out. This is not only because of its blatant deconstruction, but also the value it is to the city, as a museum and an architectural piece. Frank Gehry made his masterpiece as contemporary as possible. To such extent that even critics lament about his novel style and vision of architecture. In Spain, hardly anyone can be surprised by whimsical architectural forms, bearing in mind the works of Antonio Gaudi in Barcelona. However, Frank Gehry seems to have outwitted the latter. What he created, ...

(Student’s Full Name)

La Géode (at the Bernard Tschumi’s Parc de la Villete,) Carlos ZGZ| Flickr, n.d. Bernard Tschumi’s Parc de la Villete is a good example of deconstruction in architecture because it correctly illustrates how an architect, similar to a writer, can use rhetorical devices, such as “repetition, distortion, or juxtaposition” (Tschumi 146). In the above photograph, the fountain, named La Géode, does not look like a traditional fountain. The shape of the fountain is distorted and allows the water to spray downwards instead of upwards. Additionally, instead of the water curving and ...

Bilbao is one of the most storied cities in Spain, dating back more than 700 years. Presently, it has about 500,000 people within its boundaries, but Greater Bilbao, an area over 400 square kilometers in area, has over 1 million people.1 Although it had long been a leading port, it also gained prominence in the shipbuilding, chemicals and steel industries; however, when those industries began to decline after the death of Franco in 1975, the city sank into a recession. One of the causes for this recession had been Franco’s insistence that these industries only serve Spanish clients instead ...