Tributes paid to Frank Gehry, designer of Guggenheim museums in Bilbao and Abu Dhabi

Tributes have been paid to visionary architect Frank Gehry, designer of some of the world’s most distinctive buildings, who died on Friday at age 96.

His most notable works include the highly anticipated Guggenheim Abu Dhabi museum, the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, and Paris's La Fondation Louis Vuitton museum.

The Canadian-born architect was known for his experimental and unconventional designs. And this is hugely evident in the design for the Abu Dhabi museum, with its series of striking cones.

Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi with architect Frank Gehry, second right, at the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi museum site on Saadiyat Island, in 2021. Photo: Abu Dhabi Media Office

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney extended his “deepest condolences” to Mr Gehry's family and the “many admirers of his work”.

“His unmistakable vision lives on in iconic buildings around the world,” he said.

Dr Mariet Westermann, director and chief executive of the Solomon R Guggenheim Museum and Foundation, paid tribute.

“The Guggenheim community mourns the loss of Frank Gehry, whose visionary architecture reshaped our institution and changed cities around the world,” she wrote on Instagram.

“From Bilbao to Abu Dhabi, Frank's genius magnified the Guggenheim's mission and showed why museum architecture matters. His buildings paid profound homage to Frank Lloyd Wright's foundational vision for the Guggenheim-architectural distinction in service of, art, artists and visitors of all stripes,” she said.

“Our decades-long collaboration with Frank and Gehry Partners was built on friendship, shared values and an unwavering belief in art's power to transform lives. Frank's legacy will inspire generations to come. We are so grateful.”

Bilbao's Guggenheim Museum said it would “be forever grateful” and “his spirit and legacy will always remain connected to Bilbao”.

Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, first announced in 2006, is nearing completion on Saadiyat Island. It is surrounded by other landmark institutions in the Saadiyat Cultural District, such as Louvre Abu Dhabi, the Natural History Museum and Zayed National Museum.

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