With the approach of a new century, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art wishes to focus on some of the great pioneers of modern architecture, those who most strongly influenced the present architectural scene and who will set the stage for the architecture of the next century. The architectural series The Architect's Studio has been conceived as a series of studio exhibitions which, by focusing on each architect's formal concepts and working processes1 will attempt a more comprehensive approach than that of the traditional architectural exhibition. Through close collaboration with the individual architects, the exhibitions will convey the feeling of being inside architectural laboratories. To introduce such a series, the obvious choice is the American architect Frank 0. Gehry and his projects and techniques. Because of his expressive and often provocative formal idiom, he has been the center of much debate on 90s architecture, most recently in connection with the opening of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, which has attracted global interest. Architecture and art are closely connected in Frank 0. Gehry's work. His organic forms demand working methods which are unusual and quite special for an architect, involving the interaction of sketches, studio models and computer graphics. The computer in particular is a very important tool for Frank 0. Gehry who uses electronic techniques developed by the airline industry. A computer programme named Catia provides him with unique possibilities for testing and "translating" his ideas, communicating with the building constructor and later following the project at close hand. In the case of the Guggenheim Museum, the computer was of paramount importance to the realization of this very complicated building project. The CAD-system, besides being helpful during the creative phase, is also useful when it comes to transforming a building's forms to clearly definable geometrical elements - as the museum's characteristic titanium facing exemplifies. Portions of Frank 0. Gehry's studio are to be literally transferred to
Louisiana, providing viewers with insight into his working process and thus
with a clearer understanding of his complex architecture. The exhibition
is arranged for and by Louisiana in collaboration with Frank 0. Gehry, co-curated
by the architect Kirsten Kiser. |