Frank Gehry

Walt Disney Concert Hall

Photo by Lisa Hirsch

October, 2007

Well, damn, Frank Gehry has died. He was among the greatest architects of our time and certainly one of my favorites. There are few buildings I love as much as Walt Disney Concert Hall, one of the most beautiful buildings I've ever seen; a wonder in design, with so much detail, constantly changing in the light, a Gesamtkunstwerke in every sense of the word, since he designed the building, a fabulously intricate building, down to the fabric used on the seats.

Oh, and it has magnificent acoustics, at least for the audience. I understand from someone who has been there that it can be difficult for the musicians to hear each other on stage. The acoustics aren't quite perfect: the last performances I heard there, in December 2024, were of Schoenberg's mighty oratorio Gurrelieder, which has an immense orchestra and a big chorus. A friend and I agreed that at the sonic maximum, the hall was slightly overloaded and the sound became blurry. Regardless, the hall is still a marvel.

Practically speaking, I have to wonder whether there are any implications to the possible renovation of Davies Symphony Hall, here in San Francisco, since his architectural firm is one of two listed on the project. Davies is acoustically mediocre and dull to look at. A renovation would cost around a half-billion  dollars, not the ridiculous $100 million that I've seen bruited about (see Geffen Hall in NYC for why $500 million is far more realistic).

He won't be buried at WDCH, but Christopher Wren's epitaph in St. Paul's Cathdral, London, applies equally to Gehry: LECTOR, SI MONUMENTUM REQUIRIS, CIRCUMSPICE. ("Reader, if you seek a monument, look around.")

Walt Disney Concert Hall

Photo by Lisa Hirsch

October, 2007