Essay

Frank O. Gehry

As a teenager Frank Gehry was uncertain about his career direction as he found himself hampered by his lack of skills as a draughtsman. While studying architecture in Los Angeles and working closely with the modernist architect Raphael Soriano, he confirmed his career choice and got a degree in architecture in 1954.

After working for a number of architectural practices, in 1962 he opened his own firm called “Frank O. Gehry & Associates Inc.” And within this firm in 1972 he designed a series of fourteen furniture pieces under the name of Easy Edges. These pieces were made from corrugated cardboard and Gehry was among the first designers to experiment with the use of this material.

 

However, these designs with the use of cardboard made success and were popularised with the buyers as they were of a low cost budget. But since Gehry was an architect, he stopped their production after only three months as he didn’t want himself to be known as a furniture designer.

As a modernist, Gehry designed a number of residences which included industrial materials and deconstructed forms. One of which was his own family house in Santa Monica (image below). When Gehry and his wife bought this house, their neighbours did not have the slightest idea of how this house was going to be transformed into a symbol of deconstructivism. Infact Frank still kept the original existing house and built his international style structure around the house. Among the neighbours’ mansions it was very contemporary and his neighbours hated it, but this house still remained a state of the art when it comes to archtecture.

Being so innovative with his building designs he had received international acclaims for his deconstructivist projects. While working in his own firm (today known as Gehry Partners, LLP) he spent more time with sculptors and painters including Ed Kienholz and Bob Irwin. They were all trying to find new uses for the overlooked by-products of industrial civilisation. Thus, Gehry began to look for an opportunity to invent a more personal vision in his own work. This is when he started to design brick and steel structures.

In 1989, he designed the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, but due to financial shortages and political infighting this project was delayed for many years and so it was finally completed in 2003.

Also in 1990, the Weisman Art Museum at the University of Minnesota was completed and was Gehry’s first monumental work in his own country. It was constructed from bricks and stainless steel, two materials that were popular during the time.

Following the success of Frank Gehry, he achieved the Pritzker Prize award  in 1989 for the works of the Disney Concert Hall which is the world’s most prestigious architecture award.

Alessi

Giovanni Alessi founded his own company FAO (Fratelli Alessi Omegna) in Italy in 1921 where his son Carlo Alessi used to work in his metal workshop at an early age. In 1935 Carlo took over his firm as the head designer.

In the 1930s till the 1940s, Carlo designed many works, including the “Ottagonale”, “Scalini”, “Cilindrica” and “Bombe” series.

Uptill this time these kind of works where being made more ‘crafty style’ and so Alessi moved away from its craft origins towards a more industrial mode. This affacted the way their culture used to be from a cheaper version that mostly everyone could have afforded to buy, to a more professional work with richer materials that became more expensive for people to buy.

During this period, the world was dominated from the second world war and this resulted of having shortages of materials. Alessi was infected by the lack of nickel-silver and brass and thus, they began using pressed stainless steel and in order to remain competitive in the in the industry, Alessi began commissioning work from well-known designers.

In the late 1970s, designers from Post-Modernism began to work for Alessi by producing limited edition ranges. These designers were eleven in total which included Ettore Sottsass, Michael Graves, Aldo Rossi and Robert Venturi where they designed the “Tea and Coffee Piazza”.

Michael Graves                                                                                                    Robert Venturi

These limited edition works all motivated the architecture in miniature which had brought Alessi international recognition and ensured the company’s position as one of the leaders in Post-Modernism.

Today Alessi are still producing these works that were designed by famous designers among with other industrial products and also offers online courses for students who want to design in this related field. 

Aldo Rossi

References:

Laura, 2013. Easy Edges collection. [images online] Available at: http://www.arredativo.it/2013/recensioni/salotto/poltrone-salotto/easy-edges/ [Accessed 19th January 2014]

Anon, 2013. Our theaters & concert halls. [image online] Available at: http://www.musiccenter.org/about/OUR-VENUES/Our-Theatres--Concert-Halls/ [Accessed 19th January 2014]

Anon, 2010. Frank O. Gehry. [online] Available at: http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/geh0bio-1 [Accessed 19th January 2014]

Elvira Masson, 2010. Alessi s’ expose à Munich. [image online] Available at: http://www.lexpress.fr/styles/design/alessi-s-expose-a-munich_895145.html [Accessed 19th January 2014]

Dezeen, 2009. Alberto Alessi at the Design Museum. [images online] Available at: http://www.dezeen.com/2009/11/14/podcast-interview-alberto-alessi-at-the-design-museum/ [Accessed 19th January 2014]