Gehry will inspire generations of architects to ‘dream endlessly’, Foster says
Norman Foster has paid tribute to Frank Gehry, describing the late architect as someone whose exuberant projects belied a man who was soft-spoken and “deeply thoughtful”.
Foster said Gehry, who died last week at the age of 96, had a “boundless optimism” and would inspire generations of architects to “create with courage”.
The two architects were long-time friends and occasional collaborators, first meeting in the late 1960s and maintaining contact for more than five decades.
The pair, who both worked on parts of the Battersea Power Station redevelopment, were photographed sharing a friendly embrace at the opening of Gehry’s LUMA tower in France in 2021.
In a post on Facebook last weekend, the Norman Foster Foundation said Foster had “lost a dear friend and one of the great architects of our time”.
In a longer tribute published today, Foster recalled the early years of his friendship with Gehry, when the latter’s residential work and projects for developers was “more mainstream and restrained”.
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Foster said Gehry’s signature style had started to emerge under the influence of Los Angeles-based artists including Ed Ruscha, Larry Bell and Claes Oldenburg.
He also recalled collaborating with Gehry on an unsuccessful bid for the Milan Fiera masterplan, where the two had sought to create a new type of park which would be “enmeshed with the ecology of the city”.
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“Working with models I can recall him crunching up balls of yellow trace and piling them up as trees. We all joined in the game,” Foster said.
He added: “Though his creative process may have seemed larger than life, those closest to him knew him as a soft-spoken, deeply thoughtful man with a boundless optimism.
“For the generations of architects inspired by his work, Frank Gehry’s memory will always remind us to think boldly, dream endlessly, and create with courage.”
Norman Foster’s tribute to Frank Gehry in full
”What sets Frank apart is not just the sculptural exuberance of his work but also its emotional quality which has always been about humanity, movement, and connection.
“I first spent time with Frank Gehry in the late nineteen sixties and early seventies when his residential work and projects for developers was more mainstream and restrained. As he became involved with artists on the LA art scene such as Ed Ruscha, Larry Bell and Claes Oldenburg, his signature style started to evolve. Over the years we maintained contact and on one occasion we ended up collaborating. This was for the Milan Fiera Masterplan where we sought to create a new type of living-park with architectural and landscape components that are enmeshed with the ecology of the city. Working with models I can recall him crunching up balls of yellow trace and piling them up as trees. We all joined in the game.
“Though his creative process may have seemed larger than life, those closest to him knew him as a soft-spoken, deeply thoughtful man with a boundless optimism. For the generations of architects inspired by his work, Frank Gehry’s memory will always remind us to think boldly, dream endlessly, and create with courage.”
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