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March 2, 2009
Gehry slows but not by choice
Toronto Star
by Martin Knelman
Frank Gehry celebrates his 80th birthday, but the milestone is tinged with melancholy.
Distressingly, two of his favourite projects, huge mixed-use developments on L.A.'s Grand Ave. (near Disney Hall) and at Brooklyn's Atlantic Yards, have been indefinitely delayed. The climate of sky's-the-limit architectural ambitions, combined with unbounded funding that he did so much to create, has reached a cul-de-sac.
"We've got half as much work as we used to have," he sighs.
Part of the problem is that people think Gehry's buildings cost too much. Whyever would they think that?
"I don't know how to overcome this perception that I'm extravagant. The cost of Disney Hall was only $215 million (U.S.). I'm a leftie and I've always believed in doing things on a modest scale.
NoLandGrab: Yeah, modest. You should've seen the Atlantic Yards plan before Gehry gave it the modesty treatment.
Posted by eric at March 2, 2009 12:12 PM