Frank Gehry to teach online architecture and design course
TORONTO — Class will soon be in session for Frank Gehry, and the celebrated Canadianborn architect will be leading the lessons.
The California-based Gehry will be teaching what is being billed as his first-ever online class this spring.
The Gehry-led course on design and architecture will be hosted by online education service Masterclass.
The architect will be offering more than a dozen video lessons where he will teach “his unconventional philosophy on architecture, design, and art.”
He will also be drawing on case studies, sketches and his “never-before-seen” model archive.
In a two-minute video promoting the course, Gehry shares his observations on architecture and design. The footage includes clips of the architect’s sketches, images of his models, as well as completed versions of his towering works.
“As an artist, I got constraints — gravity is one of them,” Gehry says, laughing. “But within all those constraints, I have 15 per cent of freedom to make my art.”
He also notes that most cities are “built with just faceless glass, only for economies and not for humanities.”
“I’m just telling you how I did it and why I did it,” says Gehry.
“Whatever you do, promise me that every project you make or design, you’ll take the risk of doing something for humanity.”
Born in Toronto in 1929, Gehry relocated to Los Angeles with his family in 1947 and has become one of the world’s most renowned architects.
He spearheaded the transformation of the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto in 2008, and is well-known for buildings located around the world including the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the Dancing House in Prague and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain.
Recent projects include the design of Facebook’s new headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., and he also has plans to revitalize the Los Angeles River.