Remembering Frank Gehry
The ASU Learning Transformation Studios joins the global arts and architecture community in mourning the loss of Frank Gehry, he was a visionary whose work reshaped not only skylines, but the way we experience the built environment. His imagination, courage, and relentless pursuit of possibility challenged us to think bigger and demand more from the spaces we inhabit. His heartfelt 2016 Letter expressed his deep connection to the city that allowed him the freedom to explore, innovate, and create his iconic, untraditional designs.
In honor of his extraordinary legacy, we share the following statement from Executive Director, Alan Arkatov, that he made in an Exposition Park Board Meeting on December 10, 2025.
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“I'd like to take a moment of personal privilege, and talk about Frank Gehry, the most acclaimed architect of our time, who sadly passed away last week... and why he meant so much to so many in this community, and across the globe.
Once upon a time, more than 75 years ago, a young Frank Goldberg changed his name to Frank Gehry (due to antisemitism), and transferred from LA City College to USC, where he studied with Glen Lukens to become a ceramicist.
Truth be known, Glen wasn't sure that Frank had a future as a ceramicist... but as a great teacher would do, he wanted to help steer his student in the right direction. So, during his lunch breaks, he would walk with young Frank to the house that architect Raphael Soriano was building for him a few blocks away in West Adams... to talk about what excited Frank. The building of that house excited Frank, and he soon changed his major to architecture... and the rest, as they say, is history.
Fast forward to 1982, when then, Governor Jerry Brown gave the late blooming Frank Gehry, his first major public commission, the CA. Aerospace Museum (now referred to as the Air and Space Gallery), in Expo Park, as part of the run up to the 1984 Olympic Games. That building, as described by the LA Times, distilled Frank's concept of a “frozen explosion,” rupturing the idea that architecture and artifact should be distinct.
In the words of Philip Kennecott, the Pulitzer Prize winning art and architecture critic of the Washington Post, Frank Gehry made us care about architecture, even if you hated his buildings. He left a legacy that transcends mere beauty. He made us restless for a better built environment.
Gehry's architecture was never merely beautiful. His buildings work for a living and earn their keep. But at their best they are surpassingly beautiful, and any experience of surpassing beauty has a radical potential.
Great beauty makes us restless and needy, a bit like Gehry, and demanding, a bit like Gehry. And when we take that restlessness and need, and make demands on the world, things can change.
Gehry's legacy helps us formulate that demand: we should build a world that delights us.
LA was Frank's home, and Expo Park's Air and Space Gallery and the surrounding community meant a lot (a lot) to him. I think that Expo Park could, and should, honor his memory by making sure that the building is properly renovated in time for the 2028 Olympic Games, thus doing right by it and all the Gehry buildings that will forever inspire individuals in LA and around the world.”
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ASU+GSV also joins in mourning the loss of Frank Gehry, whose visionary work and fearless creativity inspired generations of builders, thinkers, and dreamers across disciplines. His legacy reminds us that innovation and imagination are inseparable forces in shaping a better future. To read their full statement honoring Frank’s life and impact, please visit the ASU+GSV website.