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Luma Arles Tower

Posted by (WA State) on

Just received the June edition of Smithsonian and was delighted to read "Light Show." As a huge fan of seeking out Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry's work this could be my next favorite design. Arles was one of my favorite stops in the South of France. Edited to add: We were on the RS Loire to the South of France Tour. Highly recommend this tour. Gehry's latest design has 11,000 stainless steel panels that sparkle, evoking Van Gogh's Starry Night. At age 92 Mr. Gehry is still going strong. The tower is slated to open June 26, 2021.

On a recent visit to Prague we visited Gehry's Dancing House. It's another favorite along with The Museum of Pop Culture in my home town of Seattle.

https://www.dezeen.com/2020/03/05/frank-gehrys-luma-arles-tower-near-completion-photography/
Edited to add: https://www.francetoday.com/travel/travel-features/city-focus-arles-in-the-south-of-france/

Posted by
7380 posts

Interesting design feature. From a distance, it looks a bit like aluminum foil that’s been crumpled into a ball. In bright sunlight, the pictures certainly do show sparkling reflection. And all this without the need for electric lighting, so you could argue it’s eco-friendly.

Mr. Gehry’s Guggenheim museum design in Bilbao, Spain certainly has made an impact. As intriguing as some of the art pieces inside were when we were there 7 years ago, the building was the real star artwork.

Posted by
3961 posts

Gehry's Guggenheim design in Bilboa is on my radar. Apparently Mr. Gehry started planning the Guggenheim in Abu Dhabi. It will be located in Saadiyat Island cultural district. Upon completion, it is planned to be the largest of the Guggenheim museums. In 2019 it was announced that it will be completed in approximately four years. The computer generated image online is incredible.

Posted by
4051 posts

I'm another Gehry pilgrim so let me twist the discussion a bit. His most disappointing work, for me, is the Cinematheque francaise in Paris. It amounts to not much more than a redecoration (in 1994) adding a fan-shaped canopy over the entrance. Any architect could have done it. Runner up (so far) is the Art Gallery of Ontario in his home town of Toronto. Again he started with an existing building and did much more to make it distinctively his own, topping it with an ambling wooden crown. But not to my taste.
Any other nominations?

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