Hear the University Architect (PP646)

Throughout the 1970s and '80s, Gehry became fascinated with irregular and expressive shapes and a variety of materials, including those that were considered raw and ordinary. Those experiments informed the work of the Lewis house, and the process represents a transformational period for Gehry. He discovered how to utilize earlier studies of material, construction, skin, and shape into an architectural language of form and space. The piece was first shown in the Gagosian Gallery in 1997. The wood ribs were cut with a water jet from templates generated by a 3-D computer model. Over these ribs there is a thin layer of plywood supporting the outer surface of lead shingles.