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November 7, 2007
Frank Gehry Building Falling Apart
M.I.T. is suing Frank Gehry, his architectural firm, and his construction firm for massive damages to the $300 million Stata Center opened in 2004. In just that short time, the building is suffering from massive cracks, pervasive leaks, and visible structural damage already costing the school $1.7 million to repair.
The design sports the classic Gehry touches, post-modern sweeps and lines, with each section looking as if it's collapsing into the other. Funny since that's exactly what's happening. Frank Gehry has spoken out saying designs like this are unpredictable.
"These things are complicated and they involved a lot of people, and you never quite know where they went wrong. A building goes together with seven billion pieces of connective tissue. The chances of it getting done ever without something colliding or some misstep are small."
This isn't the first time a Gehry building has experienced problems. In 2004, the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles had to be sand blasted because the metal skin reflected so much light and amplified heat in the area.
It reminds me of what a friend told me when he first saw a Frank Gehry building. "Nature didn't mean for this design."
via NY Times
Posted by tranism at 1:06 PM | Permalink
Comments
Very interesting. I just visited the Guggenheim in Bilbao, it's also showing signs of wear. The stone panels are getting drips of mould from collecting rainwater (which I saw cleaners pressure washing off), and the titanium skin has some rusty residue seeping out from the cracks over the plates.
Posted by: Ben at November 7, 2007 3:27 PM
I think it's rather silly of MIT to be suing.
With radical designs, problems are an inevitable fact, you should know that going in. I think it is an added cost of having such a building.
Posted by: Sumner at November 7, 2007 4:38 PM