Frank O. Gehry

Frank Gehry is one of the most inventive and influential architects of all time. During a career spanning more than half a century, his iconic buildings have revolutionized modern architecture. Following studies at the University of Southern California and Harvard University, in 1962 Gehry started his legendary firm, Frank O. Gehry & Associates, and quickly began developing his unmistakable structural vocabulary. By the 1970s, his use of bold shapes and unconventional materials had brought him national acclaim. Famed for his philosophy of regarding each commission as a “sculptural object,” Gehry has designed some of the world’s most celebrated structures, including the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao (Spain), Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, Biomuseo in Panama City and Fondation Louis Vuitton art museum and cultural center in Paris. His work has earned him countless honors, including the Pritzker Architecture Prize, National Medal of the Arts, American Institute of Architects Gold Medal, and American Academy of Arts and Letters’ Gold Medal for Architecture. In 2016, Gehry received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama, who called his work “awe-inspiring.” Gehry joined the Institute’s Board in 2020 after years of tireless advocacy for arts education in America’s schools.