Five Buildings by Frank Gehry turns attention to the Los Angeles experiments of Gehry's early career — five lesser-known works from the late 1970s and early 1980s that established the material and spatial logic behind his later international recognition.
About This Book
Before the Guggenheim Bilbao and the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Frank Gehry was working with low-cost construction and off-the-shelf materials on a series of inventive projects across Los Angeles. This volume recovers five of those early buildings, positioning them not as footnotes but as foundational experiments. Renowned Swedish architectural photographer Johan Dehlin contributes previously unseen photographs, accompanied by newly reproduced drawings and fresh critical texts. Together they make the case that this formative period — often overshadowed by Gehry's iconic later work — was where the essential thinking happened. Essential reading for those interested in architectural process, material innovation, and the development of a design sensibility.
Key Features
- 188 pages of previously unseen photography, reproduced drawings, and critical essays
- Photography by Johan Dehlin; texts by Hilary Sample and Tom Emerson
- Published by Walther & Franz König, ISBN 9783753305899
What You'll Discover
- How Gehry's use of low-cost, off-the-shelf materials in early Los Angeles projects informed his later formal language
- Previously unseen documentary photography by Johan Dehlin that reframes these buildings as serious architectural statements
- Newly reproduced drawings that illuminate the design thinking behind works rarely examined in critical literature
- Critical perspectives from Hilary Sample and Tom Emerson that situate this early period within Gehry's broader architectural development
About the Author
This volume brings together texts by Hilary Sample and Tom Emerson, who provide the critical framing for Gehry's early career work. [Details available upon request] regarding their individual institutional affiliations and broader bodies of work.
Specifications
- Format: Softcover
- Pages: 188
- Dimensions: 25 x 20 cm
- Language: English
- ISBN: 9783753305899
- Publisher: Walther & Franz König
- Publication Date: [Details available upon request]
Perfect For: Architects and design researchers interested in Gehry's formative work, students of architectural history studying the relationship between material constraints and formal invention, and collectors of documentary architectural photography.