Fabricating The Frank Gehry Legacy: The Story Of The Evolution Of Digital Practice In Frank Gehry's Office
by Rick Smith /
2017 / English / PDF
12.2 MB Download
Much has been written about the Architect Frank Gehry and his artistic experimental architecture, but not much has been written about the implementation of the process, software and computers in his office that made it all happen. The latter has been vague because there is an inside story that has never been told. This book is that untold story, written in great detail by the person who brought technology from the Aerospace Industry to Frank’s office, and which disrupted the Architectural world. Frank Gehry and his office became famous for the technology that enabled him to design and construct his buildings. His office has been recognized as the first architectural firm in the world to successfully innovate and implement 3D computer modeling as the building’s legal documentation and establishing a new collaborative process for design through construction. Frank Gehry’s architecture and fame would not have been realized without it, and his office would eventually become recognized as a leader for it. An interesting aspect to this story is that all of this transpired within Frank’s office even though no one had ever used a computer before and he and his staff were aggressively and openly against the implementation of computer technology for a number of years. In the beginning, the technology that disrupted and revolutionized the office of Frank O. Gehry & Associates was actually coerced upon Frank and his staff by one of his clients, the Walt Disney Concert Hall Corporation. Frank and his architects were highly trained at prestigious universities in the traditional methods of drafting with pencils on paper. Rick Smith was introduced into Frank’s office by the Walt Disney Concert Hall Corporation's management to implement technology from the Aerospace Industry, to assure the success of the concert hall's design and construction process. Frank’s office fought against its introduction. Frank was afraid he would lose control of his design process, and his staff was afraid it would make them and their drafting skills become obsolete. Because of this mindset, Frank’s office struggled to understand it and they worked to obstruct its progress, while Rick worked towards trying to prove the technology’s capabilities, project by project. In the end, when the office finally embraced the technology as their future, there was an internal office storm that brought chaos and a tempest that was damaging and led to almost 20% in cost overruns on the concert hall, and great financial loss for Frank Gehry. This book is the story that has never been told which is completely different from the stories that have been portrayed and published in the press over the years. It’s the story of Fabricating the Frank Gehry Legacy.
