Frank Gehry Archive Acquired by L.A.'s Getty Research Institute

Hundreds of thousands of early papers, drawings, and models are included in the Frank Gehry Papers.

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April 3, 2017, 9:00 AM PDT

By Elana Eden


Frank Gehry

Jon Chica / Shutterstock

Los Angeles's Getty Research Institute has acquired a massive archive of the work of "the world’s most famous living architect," Frank Gehry, reports Dezeen.

The collection includes materials spanning 1954-1988, the first 30 years of Gehry's career—from his graduate studies to his competition entry for Downtown L.A.'s Walt Disney Concert Hall. He won the prestigious Pritzker Prize one year later.

The Gehry Archive comprises approximately 1,000 sketches, more than 120,000 working drawings and over 100,000 slides. Hundreds of boxes of office records, personal papers, and correspondence, 168 working models, and 112 presentation models are also included … The collection also contains digital files, which represent the architect's development of the software platforms needed for him to be able to plan the construction of his complicated buildings.

Selections from the archive, particularly relating to Disney Hall, will be on view at the institute April 25 – July 30, 2017 as part of the exhibit Berlin/Los Angeles: Space for Music.

Gehry is 88 years old. His firm has several projects underway in Los Angeles, including a major development on the Sunset Strip and the Los Angeles River Revitalization Project.

Thursday, March 30, 2017 in Dezeen

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