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Gehry Residence Santa Monica

Los Ángeles US
Frank Gehry
1979

Type

Single family house

Tags

experimental projects, suburban houses, Santa Monica, deconstruction, beach, 200Best, found objects

Visitability

Visible from the street

Description

Frank Gehry built this house for his family. It is part of an existing house in the Dutch colonial style. The new extension is developed around the original house with a completely different compositional language. Using industrial materials such as corrugated iron and metal fencing, the new house gives the impression of being permanently under construction, in formal dialogue with the original. The original facade, which remains intact, has become an interior wall. Extended up to the street line, the new house seems to contrast with the rest of the neighbourhood and caused controversy when it was first built. This home, which was updated in the 90s to accommodate the needs of the Gehry family, is an authentic architectural declaration that foresees the compositional language that Frank Gehry would subsequently develop throughout his career.