Frank Gehry - Pritzker Prize Winning Architect

Software Architecture is a relatively new field when compared to Building Architecture. Needless to say, software architects frequently look at the field of Building Architecture, to seek inspiration and to draw analogies. One of the notable building architects that I have been impressed with is Frank Gehry. It is funny the way that I first became aware of him. I was watching Arthur, a show on public television, with my son. There is this episode where Frank Gehry helps Arthur and his friends design a new tree house. Their tree house gets destroyed, and Arthur and his friends start debating over what to do. They run into Frank Gehry at the local ice cream shop, who then asks each one of them to come up with the new design ideas for their new tree house. The kids go about doing that and then present their design ideas to Frank. Some of the ideas are quite out there, which get ridiculed by the group. This is where Frank makes a statement that really stuck to me. He says, "Who says that a building has to look like a box?".

If you look at some of his work, like the Pritzker pavilion, Dancing house in Prague, Guggenheim Museum, Chiat/Day Building, you would really understand what he means by that statement. His work makes you drop all preconceived notions of what a building should look like. I think that this is equally relevant in the area of software architecture. On top of that Frank has a reputation of completing his projects on time and in budget. This can be attributed to his approach that states:

1. Prevent political and business interests from interfering with design, to arrive at an outcome that is as close as possible to the original design
2. Get a detailed and realistic cost estimate before proceeding
3. Maintain close relationship with the implementers