In brief
Frank Gehry, celebrated as one of the most influential architects of the century, died at the age of 96. Famous for his avant-garde style, Gehry gained international fame with the design of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. He is survived by his wife and four children.
Frank Gehry, considered one of the most influential architects of the century, has died aged 96. Gehry is known for his avant garde, experimental style of architecture. His titanium-covered design of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Spain catapulted him to fame in 1997. He sealed his daring reputation years before that when he redesigned his own home in Santa Monica, California, using materials like chain-link fencing, plywood and corrugated steel. Gehry is survived by two daughters from his first marriage, Leslie and Brina; his wife, Berta Isabel Aguilera, and their two sons, Alejandro and Samuel, his chief of staff Meaghan Lloyd told the BBC on Friday. Born in Toronto in 1929, Gehry moved to Los Angeles as a teenager to study architecture at the University of Southern California. After starting his own firm, he broke from the traditional architectural principles of symmetry, using unconventional shapes and materials in a style now known as deconstructivism. His work in Bilbao put him in high demand, and he went on to design iconic structures in cities all over the world: the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago's Millennium Park, the Gehry Tower in Germany, and the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris.
