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Frank Gehry has called Walt Disney Concert Hall a "living room" for the city of Los Angeles. Opened in Fall 2003 to rapturous praise, the hall beckons all comers with a billowing steel facade gleaming in the sunlight. Nearly 100 stunning color photographs and four concise, engaging essays by notable, mostly L.A.-based contributors make
Symphony: Frank Gehry’s Walt Disney Concert Hall the ideal overview of this major civic and cultural landmark. Significant architectural, acoustical, urban design and civic leadership angles are all covered, including the checkered history of the project, stalled for years due to a ballooning budget, a complex decision-making process and a misguided attempt to relegate Gehry to a consulting role. In the end, as Michael Webb points out, the lag time proved valuable to Gehry, coinciding with his mastery of a new architectural language that he first explored in the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. The book is full of intriguing details. For example, the acoustical scheme developed by Dr. Minoru Nagata relies in part on a surprising discovery he made—-that the quality of sound in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, long attributed to the resonant wood walls, was really due to the four inches of plaster underneath. The most ambitious chapter is Carol McMichael Reese's discussion of the hall's role in the long-term rehabilitation of downtown Los Angeles. For all its scrupulous detail and balanced assessments, however, she fails to give an eye-level view of the gritty texture of downtown Los Angeles and how alien it still is to the average symphony patron. The book concludes with an essay by Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, who notes the appropriateness of visionary design to the modern symphonic repertoire he champions.
—Cathy Curtis
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Book Description
From the stainless steel curves of its striking exterior to the state-of-the-art acoustics of the hardwood-paneled main auditorium, Frank Gehry's Walt Disney Concert Hall, new home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, will be one of the most acoustically sophisticated concert halls in the world. Opening in fall 2003, the hall is destined to be a new architectural landmark, generating as much excitement as Gehry's Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, which its design predates.
This book, which includes an introduction by Gehry, traces the history of the hall from its inception through the architect selection process, construction, and completion of the building, which is recorded in acclaimed architectural photographer Grant Mudford's stunning images. Esa-Pekka Salonen, music director for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, recounts his first impressions of Gehry and the models for the new building in an essay that also defines what makes a great orchestra and a great concert hall.
Sure to make headlines and attract visitors from around the world, the Walt Disney Concert Hall is one of the most important and innovative buildings of recent years. This book brings its story to all those interested in modern architecture.
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