Frank "Just Crumples Up Pieces of Paper and Calls Them Building Models" Gehry sat down with the New York Times earlier this month to talk about his design for the upcoming Guggenheim Abu Dhabi. Here is the origin story he gives for the building's form:
"I was trying to figure out some way to cool the outdoor spaces and I thought of a tepee, and the tepee takes the hot air out. So I took some paper and a made a bunch of teepees and put them around what I considered to be the public spaces on the model just as a placeholder, something that had to be solved. And the client group came here and they looked at all the models and they picked that one, and they said 'That's incredible! You really understand our culture,' and I couldn't figure out what they were talking about. I realized that a repetitive simple shape like a dome is something they're used to in their history."There you have it. Also, Gehry tells the Times he wants to "move the needle" on worker rights in the emirates.
Watch the full interview here.
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