Week 11 Frank Gehry & MIT

Frank Gehry , who designed the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, is also the 1989 Pritzker Prize owner and one of the most notable architects in the world. He is famous for his deconstructive design and also regarded as the representative of post modernism.

However, when he finished one of his masterpieces ---The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Stata Center, Gehry was suing alleging serious flaws in the design.

It really surprised me; I have always admired his design. Thus I can not wait to read through the news. MIT’s Stata Center is a science building of boldly angled walls and swooping curves on the Cambridge, Mass. campus. The problems of the building, as the writer described in the second paragraph, included leaks throughout the building, mold growing on its brick exterior, and poor drainage in the center's amphitheater. Oh god…

I really like Frank Gehry’s unique deconstructive design, especially his buildings’ conspicuous exterior and materials. I also know he has many opponents. In the third paragraph, the writer went on to talk about some of his opponents’ opinion in relation to MIT’s problem. They criticized that Gehry cared more about the architecture’s form than function. They said that Gehry’s vision surpassed both the technology available to build what he drew and the size of his clients’ bank accounts.

The news was very attractive and I can not wait read Gehry’s response in the next several paragraphs. Gehry stated that “These things are complicated, and they involved a lot of people, and you never quite know where they went wrong”.

Fortunately, in the next several paragraphs, after a heated debate between MIT and Gehry’s company, the lawsuit was finally "amicably resolved." However, after reading this news, there is one thing confused me: the issues between form and function.

http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/theskyline/2010/04/three-years-after-suing-gehry-mit-settles-with-architect-in-stata-center-dispute-.html