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Frank Gehry Goes Solo in Philadelphia Show

The exhibit will include 120 architectural models, drawings, photographs and videos from the project.

Nicholas Tamarin -- Interior Design, 10/16/2008 12:00:00 AM

Lewis Residence: Final Design Model, 1995. Milled paper, basswood, acrylic, museum board. Photo courtesy of Gehry Partners, LLP.

Frank Gehry has earned many plaudits during an illustrious, if occasionally controversial, career. But he’s never had this: An entire exhibit devoted to a single project designed by his firm, Gehry Partners.

All that changes November 8 as the Philadelphia Museum of Art opens the doors to “Frank O. Gehry: Design Process and the Lewis House,” a point-by-point survey of the decade-long residential commission the postmodernist firm accepted in 1985 from Peter B. Lewis of Lyndhurst, Ohio.

Lewis Residence Sketch, 1985. Ink on paper. Courtesy of Gehry Partners, LLP.

Drawings, photographs, videos and 120 architectural models will chronicle what started as a simple remodeling job, but ultimately developed into a larger, more complicated residence. And while the Lewis house was ultimately not built, the project is credited with sparking a series of creative and technological breakthroughs for Gehry, which he later leveraged in famed works like the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.

Peter B. Lewis Design Process Model, 1992. Mixed Media (plaster, wood, metal screen, paper). Photo courtesy of Gehry Partners, LLP.

Running through April 5, 2009, the exhibit is sponsored by Collab, a collaboration of design professionals that support the museum’s modern and contemporary design collection, and by jeweler Tiffany & Company. Prior to the official opening, Collab will honor Gehry with its Design Excellence Award on November 7 in the museum’s Van Pelt Auditorium, followed by a lecture from the designer.

Lewis Residence, 1995. Ink on paper. Photo courtesy of Gehry Partners, LLP.
Additonal Reading: Princeton Inaugurates New Library With Frank Gehry Exhibition