Premiering on BBC One, Alan Yentob’s imagine program Frank Gehry: The Architect says “Why Can’t I?”, co-produced with EQ Media and Entertainment, explores the colourful career of architect Frank Gehry, as he embarks on an ambitious new project in Australia. One of the world’s most celebrated yet controversial creative forces, Gehry has fundamentally reinvented what architecture can be. From Bilbao’s iconic Guggenheim Museum to LA’s Walt Disney Concert Hall, he’s known for his supple, shimmering metal designs that defy logic and appear alive. But there’s so much more to Frank.
A relentless boundary-pusher inspired by art world heavyweights like Picasso, Donald Judd and Robert Rauschenberg, Gehry’s experimental approach to architecture has always been about breaking the rules and defying expectations in a quest for true originality.
Alan Yentob reveals a tantalising array of Gehry’s creations across the globe and visits him in his vast LA studio – an impressive hive of architectural adventure and endeavour, made all the more remarkable by the fact that Gehry is now well into his 80s. imagine… also charts the uniquely challenging process of actually building a Gehry design, with regular site visits to Australia, where Sydney’s bemused craftsmen try to get to grips with the impossibly curved brick walls and giant abstract glass panels that Frank’s imagination demands.
The Gehry we discover is a playful, witty and deeply driven individual who shows no sign of slowing down or running out of audacious new ideas.
The feature documentary premieres on BBC on Tuesday June 23 at 10.35pm and is available on catch up on BBC iplayer for 30 days thereafter.