Frank Gehry, legendary mind behind Guggenheim Bilbao and Disney Concert Hall, dead at 96

World-renowned architect Frank Gehry has passed away at the age of 96. The American architect was famous for his futuristic designs and sculptural buildings. He designed the Disney Hall in Los Angeles, the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, and the DZ Bank Building in Berlin, among others.

The Ontario-born architect died after a brief respiratory illness at his Santa Monica home, according to reports from his chief of staff, Meaghan Lloyd.

Frank Gehry was a recipient of the Pritzker Architecture Prize and recently received the Royal Institute of British Architects' gold medal and the Americans for the Arts' lifetime achievement award.

More details about Frank Gehry as legendary architect passes on 

Gehry began teaching at his alma mater, the University of Southern California, as a professor of architecture in 2011. He also taught at Yale and Columbia University. 

The talented building sculptor described his work as a reflection of joy and optimism. He stated:

"I've always been for optimism and architecture not being sad. You know, a building for music and performance should be joyful. It should be a great experience, and it should be fun to go to."

Gehry wasn’t a fan of the post-war building silhouettes and described their styles as cold and unwelcoming:

 "I thought it was possible to find a way to express feeling and humanistic qualities in a building," Gehry said. "But I wasn't clear about it until I started experimenting, quite accidentally, with fish forms."

The celebrated architect revealed to NPR News that fish inspired some of his designs, as he loved them and drew countless fish. 

 "I thought it was possible to find a way to express feeling and humanistic qualities in a building," Gehry said. "But I wasn't clear about it until I started experimenting, quite accidentally, with fish forms."

He recalled how the fish graphics in his grandmother’s bathtub inspired him to draw:

"Every Thursday when I stayed at her house, I'd go with her to the market," he recalled. "And there would be a big bag of some kind filled with water that we would carry home with a big carp in it. We'd put it in the bathtub. I'd sit and watch it, and the next day it was gone."

Gehry is survived by his wife, Berta, and sons, Alejandro and Samuel.