The realization of passion is often a cumulative process. Many stand-alone events and incidents compound together overtime to finally culminate in a moment of epiphany. Once the moment of true passion arrives it is pretty easy to trace back and stitch all those moments together. But, it’s rarely possible to do that looking into the future.
Such is the case with the world-renowned architect of our generation, Frank Gehry. It would be his will to attend late-night classes for various courses that would eventually lead him on a path of monumental architecture with his signature on it. The projects he took up over the years have transformed many cityscapes into pieces of art.
Frank is renowned world over for his iconic buildings like the ‘Walt Disney Concert Hall’ in downtown Los Angeles, USA; Guggenheim Bilbao in Spain; and Vitra Design Museum in Germany. His architecture, admittedly, tries to instill feelings when observed. His works are known for the use of bold, postmodern shapes and unusual fabrications.
All this was possible because Frank would let his interest in different things take a natural course towards his passion.
The Multiple Influences
In his early life, Frank was no different than any one of us. Born in 1929, he had a normal upbringing in Toronto, Canada. His one of the first influences would come at the hands of the legendary Finnish architect Alvar Alto. His work includes architecture, furniture, textiles, and glassware, as well as sculptures and paintings. Incidentally, Frank was attending college and wanted to try architecture classes out of curiosity. He wasn’t entirely interested at the time but got intrigued by the architecture and design of the Finnish designer.
He later, in the year 1949, moved to Los Angeles. In the beginning, these were trying times for him. He worked different jobs while attending college. One of the first classes he took was a ceramic course at LA City College. As luck would have it, the class was taken by none other than Glen Lukens, a legendary ceramicist, glassmaker, and jewelry designer. His innovative work with glazes and his contributions to modernist jewelry is world-renowned to date. After a year of the course, Glen spotting a brilliance in Frank would tell him to not pursue ceramics anymore and insisted that he should look at architecture.
Of course, he’d have that one moment that played the biggest part. It so happened that one day Glen invited Frank to see his home being built by Raphael Soriano, a renowned architect in his own right. On watching Raphael instruct a team to move the beams precisely to his liking, Frank had his true moment of passion or inspiration. He would later enroll himself in the University of Southern California’s School of Architecture and later learn design at Harvard Graduate School of Design.
“My eyes lit up!” — Frank Gehry, on seeing Raphael Soriano work during the construction of Glen Lukens’s home.
One other inspiration in his life would be music concerts which he attended as a child accompanying his mother. Frank’s one of the most famous works is a concert hall in Los Angeles — the Walt Disney Concert Hall. His influences during his many classes over time are evident in his bold choices of materials in his works. Using steel and titanium for external skins of his buildings is certainly creative but is an inspired choice.
These kinds of influences are probably the reason why Steve Jobs famously said, during a commencement address at Stanford in 2005, that, “You can’t connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking backward.”
And the moments of inspiration kept on coming throughout his lifetime. At the age of 40, Frank, for the first time saw the statue of Charioteer in Delphi. It is a bronze statue from the classical period of Ancient Greece from around 470 BC. In the presence of the statue, Frank came down in tears due to its beauty and timelessness. He recalls himself wanting to do something like that — to create something which would be admired in similar fashion centuries from now.
Even though Frank had found his passion for architecture early on, it would take him many more years until he could finally take it up as a full-time career and path. He knew that keeping abreast of his interests will eventually lead him to where he wants to be.
These moments and many others, both good and bad, cumulatively formed the basis for the passion of the great Frank Gehry. To which, the modern architectural philosophy will forever be endowed.
The Greatness That Followed
“Architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for timelessness” — Frank Gehry
It might come as a surprise that Frank started his career in design with furniture. To be precise, he launched a cardboard furniture line called ‘Easy Edges’ in California after returning from Harvard. He was very much inclined towards architecture even when his line of furniture got acclaimed. He yearned for a move into the architectural world.
Gary shot to fame after remodeling his Santa Monica family home with the money he earned from Easy Edges. The remodeling involved splitting the existing bungalow with chain-link fences and corrugated steel. This design helped in bringing the angled skylight into the house. Gehry’s avant-garde design caught the attention of the architectural world.
His later works in designing buildings saw him rise to celebrity status. The wavy exterior of the Beekman Tower in New York, and the awe-inspiring curvy-shaped Guggenheim Bilbao in Spain, are a testament to his never-ending search for art in architecture. He would define his design as extracting and expressing feelings of different materials to be passed on to onlookers.
Not to mention the genius of the Disney Concert Hall with designs externally and internally to amplify acoustic experience both for the audience and for the musicians. Frank Gehry is renowned for his revolutionary design concepts and equally revolutionary construction processes which make building curves and modern design with little to no addition in cost compared to the traditional designs.
The Search Of Passion Is A Journey
To the select few, passion happens in an instant that is clear and precise. But, for a vast majority, it is usually a process. It takes up multiple forms during the time and cumulatively delivers a definition. Passion builds on different experiences. Frank Gehry and his pursuit of design and art and architecture is a similar journey.
In any of Frank’s interviews, he has always had a fluid transition between music, art, paintings, material design, and architecture. These are all due to multiple influences he had during his time working and learning his craft. The greatest of misconceptions in modern times is that of the definition of passion and the following pursuit of it.
There isn’t a single formula for the search for passion. There are in-fact billions of different ways to reach your passion. Following someone else’s path may help but can never be conclusive.
Let your passion take multiple forms through your vast experiences and interests. And, once you realize your passion, the dots will line up looking backward to reveal a complete picture.
