Fresh Air – Remembering Architect Frank Gehry

Date: December 12, 2025
Host: Terry Gross (with commentary from David Bianculli)
Guest: Frank Gehry (archival interview from 2004)
Duration of Gehry segment: ~00:14 – ~00:19

Overview of the Episode's Main Theme

This episode of Fresh Air commemorates the renowned architect Frank Gehry, who passed away at the age of 96. Host Terry Gross revisits her 2004 interview with Gehry, exploring his innovative approach to architecture, his development of signature forms, and personal stories that shaped his work. The segment deeply examines Gehry's design process, artistic influences, early life, and the controversies and philosophy behind his most iconic projects.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

Gehry’s Approach to Architecture & Movement in Form

• Modernist Beginnings

  • Gehry entered architecture during the height of post-war modernism, a period marked by an emphasis on "purity" and "functionalism."
    • "Decoration was a sin, purity, functionalism, all of that stuff." (Frank Gehry, 01:30)
  • He found that the movement’s purity became "cold and inhuman and lifeless." Instead, he sought to find expressive and humanistic qualities within the modernist aesthetic.

• Inspiration from Movement – The Fish Motif

  • Gehry was inspired by objects and art that suggested motion, such as Shiva dancing figures from India and Japanese woodcuts of carp by Hiroshige.
    • "I was fascinated with that sense of movement...our culture when I started making my work was a moving environment, planes, trains, cars..." (Frank Gehry, 02:04)
  • Fish became a recurring motif, both as a tongue-in-cheek response to trends ("if you're going to go back, you might as well go back 300 million years before man to fish") and as a genuine exploration of movement and abstraction.
    • "I made a 35 foot wooden fish ... When you stood beside [it], had the same character that the Shiva dancing figure." (Frank Gehry, 04:12)

• From Motif to Building – The Development of Form

  • Through abstraction—removing literal details from the fish form—Gehry discovered shapes that evoked movement and incorporated these into his architectural language.
    • "I cut off the tail and I cut off the head and I cut off the fins and I started to abstract it..." (Frank Gehry, 05:51)
  • His experiments led to floating, billowing forms seen in the Guggenheim Bilbao, Disney Concert Hall, and Chicago’s Pritzker Pavilion.

Material Choices and Technical Innovations

• Working with Steel and Titanium
  • Gehry discussed experimenting with various metals for external cladding, aiming to blend structure and skin—a radical departure from traditional distinctions between walls and roofs.
    • "I started to take the roofing material down and make the walls part of the roofing material. So it all was one material." (Frank Gehry, 08:01)
  • Stainless steel was often chosen for its durability, but in gray conditions, it became "dead" or muted, leading Gehry to use titanium for the Guggenheim Bilbao to achieve a "golden" reflection even during overcast skies.
    • "I found titanium by accident that in a gray sky, it turns golden and shines." (Frank Gehry, 10:03)

Iconic Building Descriptions and Their Reception

• Terry Gross reads vivid and imaginative journalistic descriptions of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao—from "Marilyn Monroe's wind-assisted skirts" to "an explosion in a sardine factory."
  • Gehry responds: "Yeah, it's fine. You know, I try to describe it, but not in those kind of terms. No." (Frank Gehry, 11:23)

Personal History and Identity

• Childhood in Canada and Artistic Exposure
  • Gehry reflects on growing up around slot machines and pinball machines, appreciating their graphic design but prefers not to dwell on that period due to family hardships.
    • "They were always in the basement somewhere in my house. And I used to play with them and help them fix them and stuff like that..." (Frank Gehry, 12:00)
• Changing His Name
  • Gehry candidly explains altering his name from Goldberg in the context of enduring anti-Semitism, and the mixed emotions that followed.
    • "I was so embarrassed. Every time I met somebody, I told them." (Frank Gehry, 14:10)

The Controversial Gehry Residence

• Gehry’s own Santa Monica house—an assemblage featuring corrugated metal, plywood, and chain-link fence—was both inventive and controversial.
  • The chain-link fence initially served to protect his two-year-old son, but became a pivotal material in Gehry’s experimental palette.
    • "Chainlink is the most despised material ever. People hate it and yet they use it so prevalently all over the world." (Frank Gehry, 16:32)
  • He continued to reflect on and research its properties, but rarely used it beyond that experiment.

Vision for Future Homes

• Gehry shared plans for a new home in Venice, CA, prioritizing a large garden and modular pavilions—a more outdoor-centric design inspired by Philip Johnson’s New Canaan home.
  • "I'd like to live in the garden...More outdoors. You can do that in L.A." (Frank Gehry, 19:27)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

"I thought it was possible within the aesthetics of the day to find a way to express feeling and humanistic qualities in a building. And I got interested in movement, the sense of movement having a humanistic effect on an inert building."
— Frank Gehry, 01:57

"If you're going to go back, you might as well go back 300 million years before man to fish."
— Frank Gehry, 03:53

"I found titanium by accident that in a gray sky, it turns golden and shines."
— Frank Gehry, 10:03

"Chainlink is the most despised material ever. People hate it and yet they use it so prevalently all over the world. And I was trying to figure out how it could be so despised and yet so used..."
— Frank Gehry, 16:32

"I was so embarrassed. Every time I met somebody, I told them." (on changing his surname from Goldberg to Gehry)
— Frank Gehry, 14:10

Timestamps for Significant Segments

| Time | Segment/Topic | |-----------|---------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:14 | David Bianculli introduces Frank Gehry and memorial segment | | 01:30 | Gehry on entering architecture amid modernism | | 03:25 | Discussion of fish as architectural inspiration | | 05:50 | Evolution of fish form into abstract architectural language | | 07:16 | Process of working with titanium, steel, and other metals | | 10:39 | Gehry reacts to Guggenheim Bilbao’s various descriptions | | 11:32 | Gehry recounts his childhood and influences | | 13:16 | On changing his name from Goldberg to Gehry | | 14:48 | Designing and reimagining his own Santa Monica home | | 17:57 | Continued relationship with chain-link material | | 18:43 | Gehry’s plans for a new house and design priorities |

Tone and Style

• The interview maintains Terry Gross's characteristic warmth and curiosity, with Gehry responding candidly, often with dry humor, reflective pauses, and thoughtful asides.
• Gehry balances technical detail with personal anecdote, making the complexities of his architecture and design philosophy accessible and engaging.

Summary: For Those Who Haven't Listened

This Fresh Air episode is both a celebration and a deep, introspective exploration of Frank Gehry’s life and visionary work. Through a wide-ranging conversation, listeners gain a unique window into how Gehry’s fascination with movement, materials, and abstraction led to some of the most iconic buildings of our time. Gehry’s reflections on childhood, identity, and the unlikely inspirations behind his creations underscore the deeply personal nature of his architectural innovations. The segment serves as both a fitting tribute to Gehry’s enduring impact and a portrait of the restless curiosity that defined his career.