Building Art: The Life and Work of Frank Gehry Hardcover – Deckle Edge, September 15, 2015

I want to start my review by saying that I'm not particularly a fan of Frank Gehry's work, but I certainly find him amazing for his influence on modern architecture and his years of contributions to society. I was anxious to read critic Paul Goldberger's biography of Gehry, "Building Art: The Life and Work of Frank Gehry". The book, which was written with the cooperation of Gehry and his friends and family and clients, is very even handed. It's clear that Goldberger admires Frank Gehry, but his fondness for his subject doesn't blind him to Gehry's lesser points.Frank Gehry, by now in his mid-80's, is still hard at work. A man who is uncompromising in his architectural principles, he is known for his buildings all over the world. As an architect, the Canadian-born Gehry - he changed his last name from "Goldberg" to "Gehry" - began his practice in Los Angeles in the early 1950's. He was sought out to design commercial buildings and public buildings, but he gained worldwide fame with his Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain in the 1990's. Suddenly everyone wanted a Frank Gehry-building, but his type of architecture must go through many levels of approval by both financial and artist groups, and many a design never left the drawing boards in Gehry's Los Angeles office. But he has built grand buildings from Berlin to Paris to Los Angeles to parts of Asia.Paul Goldberger gives as complete a picture of Frank Gehry on a personal level as he does on a professional one. Twice married and the father of four children, Goldberger makes no secret of Gehry's failings as a parent, particularly of the two daughters from his first marriage. Of course, Gehry was building his career, which is often the case.All in all, Paul Goldberger's biography of Frank Gehry is outstanding. Whether you like Gehry's work or not. The only complaint I have about the book, which I read in e-book form, was that it had a lot of typos. I also wish there were more photographs, but by reading it on my iPad, I was able to switch over to Wikipedia when I wanted to see a building whose picture was not included in the book.

It was a interesting read. Lots of facts and provides both personal details as well as his professional accomplishments.

Really interesting book written by an honest admirer of the subject. Mr. Goldberger provides not only the good aspects of the Gehry person and architect but quite a bit of the bad as well. I would have given the book a 5 except it lacks enough images of the buildings described to lessen the impact the excellent writing could have had.

Very good storytelling from an Architectural Writer who exudes great journalism and the sincere, honest viewpoint adds to a better understanding of his history and decisions as his journey unfolded. Also great detail in explaining how an architect works for clients on how he interprets their desires and through the art of design delivers imaginative, creative, and projects that impact all who enter them for all different reasons. An open minded reader will gain much from reading this biography and their lives will be enriched as they pass through architectural projects everywhere.

This is a birthday gift for a young and starting architect. It arrived to my house safe and very well packaged to prevent damage to book in transit. We used the same packaging to send gift on to Mexico.

Perhaps like many others I wanted to learn more about Frank Gehry after the elation of seeing his Guggenheim building in Bilbao. This is a serviceable biography and I have no regrets about buying it. The cons are it is stingy on illustrations, even black and white, so have your online device handy to actually see what is being discussed and there is no list of his work in one place or a list of major exhibitions of his work. Not suitable as an easy reference. The chapter notes and bibliography are thorough If you are on a budget I would suggest waiting for a used copy or one from the library. Use money saved toward a recent exhibition catalog or book with numerous photographs of his work to savor.

This wonderful biography reads like a gripping novel--the narrative builds from page one and the subject, Frank Gehry, is fascinating throughout. Goldberger’s writing style is both elegant and accessible and he develops a clear picture of both the excitement around Gehry’s creative process and the tensions involved in producing architectural masterpieces. The book is a true “page turner.” I loved it and gave one to everyone I know who enjoys a great book.

I ordered this book for my daughter. Mr Gehey utilizes NASA software for designing. She want to be a waitress. Read the book yourself and draw your own conclusions.

Das Buch eignet sich als Table Book, es zeigt die Architektonischen Meisterwerke und lädt zum blättern ein.

A good publication on a great mind!

As great as the content of the book is but I can't deny the fact that the quality of paper cutting and book binding is not that great. Even the cover being of less quality paper makes it easy to damage. For 2000Rs, the quality of the book is not that good ...

Excelente libro

Ses oeuvres ont énormément marqué et continueront à marquer l'architecture de notre temps et une partie de son imagination débordante et de sa maîtrise des techniques transparaît dans cette réalisation exceptionnelle qu'est le musée Guggenheim de Bilbao!