Canadian Wonders

In one section of this book, suprisingly just before the part where Canadian architect Frank Gehry talks about his frustrating experiences at Harvard University, he says he 'wasn't interested in doing rich guys' houses". Personally, I like this. And you can image how interesting his career has been from there. He has has created buildings of perplexing beauty and world renown splendor, his own "deconstructivist" house and, most recently, he orchestrated the remodelling of the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto. Sidney Pollack has even made a film about him and his work.

inside the AGO



the Walt Disney Concert Hall



The Dancing House in Prague

This book is great. It's a collection of conversations in which Gehry recounts his life path, an oral history of sorts. It's cut up into nice sections ("Learning", "Innovating", "consolidating") and well illustrated. As someone with a limited knowledge of architecture, I find Gehry's approach to life and creation quite unique.

If Gehry gets you fascinated about architecture you can come back and check out this biography on Le Corbusier, one of Gehry's major architectural influences: