Probably my favorite building in the Twin Cities!Frank Gehry, architect
In an article published in The New York Times in November 1989, architecture critic Paul Goldberger wrote of Frank Gehry’s work: “His buildings are powerful essays in geometric form and materials, and from an aesthetic standpoint they are among the most profound and brilliant works of architecture of our time.” Hallmarks of Gehry’s work are his populist approach; he has a particular concern for the ways people move through, and live and work comfortably in the spaces he has created. He insists that buildings address the context and culture of their sites.
It was Gehry’s ability to address the culture and needs of the University Art Museum that made him the perfect candidate to design the new Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum. Lyndel King, director of the Weisman Art Museum, said that Gehry was chosen as the architect, after a lengthy selection process, because he “showed that he really understood the mission and the dream of the museum.” Focusing on the traditions of the University and student needs, Gehry created a museum that is simultaneously accessible, functional, and intriguing, as well as immediately identifiable as belonging to the world of art. His design for the Weisman Art Museum won him a prestigious Progressive Architecture Design Award in 1991. (http://www.weisman.umn.edu/architecture/gehry.html)
