Architect Frank Gehry has explained how his seminal 1978 home in Santa Monica caused a stir in an exclusive interview with PIN-UP magazine to mark the publication's 30th issue.
"The neighbors got really pissed off," Gehry said of the project that helped catapult him to fame.
"The neighbor two doors south of me was a lawyer. She complained to the city and filed a lawsuit."
Frank Gehry designed his own home in Santa Monica. Photo by Buck Ellison
Called the Frank and Berta Gehry Residence, the project involved extending a home built in the Dutch colonial style on a corner lot in a leafy suburb.
Gehry's pioneering use of cheap materials including chain-link fence, corrugated galvanised steel and plywood caused a sensation, helping catapult the architect to fame. The choice of materials was partly an economic decision, the 92-year-old told PIN-UP interviewer Mimi Zeiger, saying he spent just $50,000 on the project.
The Frank and Berta Gehry Residence utilised unusual building materials. Photo is by IK's World Trip
"We had two little kids and not much money," Gehry explained. "We needed to do something quickly. My wife Berta found the house and, at my mother's urging, bought it."
However, the home was inadequate for the family's needs. "I had to fix it," he said. "It didn't have a large enough kitchen; it didn't have a bedroom for the second child. We spent $50,000, which is a very small sum with respect to the whole house....