Friday, September 29, 2006

Frank Gehry. American Master?

Watched the Frank Gehry: American Masters show on PBS the other night with the hopes of seeing what all the hoopla is about. I came away with the same feeling I have had since I first heard of Gehry and the Getty Museum in Bilbao, Spain, that of "eh". With all the adoration of Gehry, I started to feel like the only one that didn't like his stuff, and after watching the documentary on PBS where we are shown lots of his work, I can safely say I am even more adamant in my dislike of his work.

While his most famous works, Bilbao, Disney Hall, etc. have that wavy "natural" look(which is anything but natural, IMHO)which is supposed to be somehow inviting and freeing is, to me, jarring and irritating . Good architecture, for me, needs to be inviting and pleasant to look at, not jarring and annoying. Why would I want to enter a building that makes me want to turn away? And don't give me the "but he's making art." He may think he is making art, but he is designing building that people are supposed to want to enter, not run away from.

Disney Hall - a mess


The science building at MIT. Words cannot express how awful this building is. It's like Dr. Seuss on a bad acid trip.


And Bilbao. Yuck! Just because it looks like no other building, does not make this a good piece o architecture.

1 Comments:

Blogger Tami DeTruth said...

Hello Sweetums,

Perhaps it's because I've already had my second martini by the time I arrive at the Disney Hall, but I do love the building. I understand your resistance to the swirls but I must confess that I love the building. I have season tickets to the symphony there and the sound is magnificant.

Next time you're in Hollywoodland, I'll give you a tour.

Speaking of which, HFB is coming up soon. I do hope you can make it.

8:58 AM  

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