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BIOGRAPHY OF FRANK GEHRY

b. 1929, Toronto, Canada | lives and works in Los Angeles

1929
Born on February 28 in Toronto as Frank Owen Goldberg.
1947
Moves to California.
1949
Studies at the University of Southern California's College of Architecture.
1954
Changes his last name to Gehry. Concludes his architectural studies at the University of Southern California and begins to work at several architecture studios, including Victor Gruen Associates and Pereira and Luckman Associates.
1957
Works at architecture studio Pereira and Luckman Associates.
1961
Moves to Paris to work in André Rémondet's atelier.
1962
Returns to California, where he opens a modest architecture studio in Santa Monica.
1965
Creates the design for the Art Treasures of Japan exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, for which he will design several exhibitions in the following years.
1968
Presents the Ron Davis Studio and House project in Malibu, which he will conclude in 1972.
1969
Begins working on the series of cardboard furniture entitled Easy Edges, which he will develop until 1973.
1974
Elected a fellow of the American Institute of Architects.
1977
Receives the Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize in Architecture from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
1978
Begins the project for the Loyola Law School building in Los Angeles, which will be developed in different stages.
1979
Appointed to the William Bishop Chair at Yale University. Begins to develop his series of card furniture entitled Experimental Edges.
1982
Holds the Charlotte Davenport Chair of Architecture at Yale University.
1984
Holds the Eliot Noyes Chair at Harvard University. The Gagosian Gallery in Los Angeles inaugurates his Unique Fish Lamps exhibition. Inaugurates the California Aerospace Museum in Los Angeles (1982–84).
1986
The Walker Art Center in Minneapolis inaugurates The Architecture of Frank Gehry, an exhibition that will later travel to several museums in the US and Canada.
1987
Receives an honorary doctorate in the visual arts from the California Institute of the Arts and an honorary doctorate in fine arts from the Rhode Island School of Design.
1989
Receives the Pritzker Architecture Prize from the Hyatt Foundation. The Galerie für Architektur und Raum in Berlin inaugurates an exhibition of his work. Completes the expansion (offices and factory) of the Vitra International Manufacturing Facility & Design Museum in Weil am Rhein (1987–89).
1991
The Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris holds the Frank O. Gehry: Projects en Europe exhibition. Wins the competition to design the new museum for the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao Foundation over proposals by Arata Isozaki and Coop Himmelblau. Finishes the construction of the Chiat/Day Office Building in Venice.
1992
Receives the Wolf Prize in art from the Wolf Foundation and the Praemium Imperiale for architecture from the Japan Art Association. Inaugurates the Center for Visual Arts at the University of Toledo in Ohio (1990–92) and the fish-shaped stainless steel sculpture located at the Port Olímpic in Barcelona.
1993
Concludes the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art building in Minneapolis (1990–93).
1994
The Vitra Design Museum holds an exhibition of his work. The Wetsman Gallery of Twentieth-Century Decorative Art holds a retrospective of his furniture designs since 1969. Awarded the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize.
1995
Inaugurates the EMR Communication and Technology Center in Bad Oeynhausen, Germany, and the headquarters of the Team Disneyland in Anaheim, California.
1996
Completes the National-Nederlanden building in Prague (1992–96).
1997
The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is inaugurated (1991–97).
1998
Receives the Gold Medal for the arts from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada. The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebaek, Denmark, organizes the Frank O. Gehry: The Architect's Studio exhibition, which travels to several museums in Europe and the U.S. afterwards. Presents his project for the Guggenheim Museum in New York.
1999
Receives the American Institute of Architects' Gold Medal and the Lotos Medal of Merit from the Lotos Club. Inaugurates the New Zollhof building in Düsseldorf and the Vontz Center for Molecular Studies at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio.
2000
Receives the Gold Medal from the Royal Institute of British Architects. Inaugurates the Experience Music Project building (1995–2000). Begins work on a project for the Jerusalem Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem.
2001
Presents the Venice Gateway project for the Marco Polo Airport in Venice. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York organizes the Frank Gehry: Architect exhibition, a retrospective of his architectural creations that will later travel to the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.
2002
Presents his project for the Le Clos Jordan Winery in Ontario. Finishes the construction of the Peter B. Lewis Campus of the Weatherhead School of Management at the Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland (1999–2002).
2003
Appointed a member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, and receives the insignia as Companion to the Order of Canada. Inaugurates the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The Maggie's Centre in Dundee, Scotland, is also opened. The Walt Disney Concert Hall building, which he designed, is inaugurated in Los Angeles. Presents the project for the Museo Puente de Vida in Panama.
2004
Begins the construction of the Ohr-O'Keefe Museum, Mississippi. Millenium Park is inaugurated in Chicago with the building designed by the architect and the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, also known as the Pritzker Pavilion or the Pritzker Music Pavilion. Inaugurates the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge.
2005
Inaugurates the expansion of the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington. The Marta Herford Museum in Herford, Germany, opens its doors in May. Hurricane Katrina caused severe destruction on the construction of the Ohr-O'Keefe Museum. Awarded the Ordre National de la Legion d'Honneur by the French Republic. Premieres Sketches of Frank Gehry, directed by Sidney Pollack. Begins the design for the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris.
2006
Appointed a member of the California Hall of Fame. The jewel collection the architect designed for Tiffany & Co. went on sale. Inaugurates the IAC/InterActiveCorp Headquarters in New York (2004–06). The Hotel Marqués de Riscal and Marqués de Riscal winery are inaugurated in Elciego, Álava (1998–2006). Presents his project for the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
2007
Presents the project for Hall Winery in Napa Valley.
2008
Inaugurates his summer time temporary pavilion at the Serpentine Gallery in London. The Peter B. Lewis Princeton Science Library, at Princeton, opens in September. Expands and restores the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), in Toronto.
2009
Finishes the Novartis Campus in Basel. Inaugurates the Counseling Center (Hejmdal) building of the Danish Cancer Society, in Aarhus, Denmark.
2010
Receives the Leone d'Oro for lifetime achievement at the Biennale Architettura di Venezia. Inaugurates the first phase of the Ohr-O'keefe Museum in Mississippi. Finishes the construction of the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas. Receives the Sabino Arana prize in the Basque Country.
2011
Inaugurates the Beekman Tower, presently known as New York by Gehry, and the New World Symphony in Miami. Named Professor of Architecture at the University of Southern California.