Frank Gehry

About

Deconstructionist, Pritzker Prize-winning architect famous for building many amazing structures that became tourist attractions. He was called "the most important architect of our age" by Vanity Fair in 2010.

Before Fame

He tried truck driving, radio announcing, and chemical engineering before settling on architecture. He studied city planning at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, but left out of disgust with what he felt was the program's socially irresponsible approach to architecture.

Trivia

He designed the Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, the Vitra Design Museum, and New York City's 8 Spruce Street, as well as Miami Beach's New World Center, Prague's Dancing House, and the National Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial.

Family Life

His parents were Irwin and Thelma Goldberg, both Polish Jews. His first wife, Anita, convinced him to change his last name from Goldberg to Gehry to avoid anti-semitism. He married his second wife, Berta Isabel Aguilera, in 1975. He has two sons named Alejandro and Samuel and two daughters named Brina and Leslie.

Associated With

He and his contemporary Thom Mayne are often associated with the Los Angeles School of architecture.