Frank Gehry has revolutionized architecture’s aesthetics, social and cultural role, and relationship to the city. His pioneering work in digital technologies set in motion the practices adopted by the construction industry today. The Canadian-born, Los Angeles–based architect’s work interrogates a building’s means of expression, a process that has brought with it new methods of design and technology as well as an innovative approach to materials. Gehry’s innovation and ability to push the boundaries of architecture garnered him the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1989.

Frank Gehry presents a comprehensive examination of his extraordinary body of work from the early 1960s—he established his firm in Los Angeles in 1962—to the present, featuring over 200 drawings, many of which have never been seen publicly, and 65 models that illuminate the evolution of Gehry’s thinking. Tracing the arc of his career, the exhibition focuses on two main themes: urbanism and the development of new systems of digital design and fabrication, including his use of CATIA, a software tool used in the aeronautics and automobile industries, which allows the digital manipulation of 3-D representations. This retrospective offers an opportunity to reflect on the development of Gehry’s work and to understand the processes of one of the great architectural minds.