Frank Gehry "Easy Edges" Stacking Shelves
View Similar Items
Frank Gehry "Easy Edges" Stacking Shelves
About the Item
- Creator:Frank Gehry (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 14 in (35.56 cm)Width: 38 in (96.52 cm)Depth: 12 in (30.48 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 5
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:Circa 1972
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU9475832119
Frank Gehry
With magnificent buildings such as the Guggenheim Bilbao, Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and the new Foundation Louis Vuitton in Paris, Frank Gehry has changed the nature and spirit of contemporary architecture. Yet the world’s best-known living architect has also enjoyed a prolific career as a designer of artful and functional objects, ranging from furniture to jewelry, that even at smaller scale are as lively and captivating as his architectural designs.
Gehry was born in Toronto and moved with his family to Los Angeles in 1947. He received a degree in architecture from the University of Southern California in 1954 and — after several years of casting about that included a stint in the U.S. Army and studies at Harvard — Gehry opened his architectural practice in L.A. in 1962.
Idiosyncratic renovations to his small, traditional house in Santa Monica — such as cladding portions of the exterior in chain-link fencing and corrugated metal — drew attention to Gehry in architectural circles. Corporate and institutional commissions added to his reputation, culminating in the global acclaim that greeted the opening of the Guggenheim Bilbao in 1997. But the combination of visual dynamism and structural integrity expressed by that building had been evident for decades in Gehry’s designs. In 1972 he introduced a much-admired line of furniture he called Easy Edges. The curves and flowing lines of the pieces, which include the Wiggle chair, seem antithetical to the material are made from: cardboard — a presumably flimsy material that, when stacked, laminated and folded, is actually extraordinarily sturdy.
Many of Gehry’s designs feature an abstracted fish motif. For the architect, it is a symbol of vitality, strength and flexibility. The fish appears in a group of 1982 plastic lamps created for Formica (and exhibited by the Jewish Museum in New York in 2010). Gehry used the motif in crystal goblets for Swid Powell (1990), his Pito kettle for Alessi (1992) and as earrings for a 2006 jewelry collection for Tiffany that also includes torqued rings, necklaces and bangles.
Gehry returned to furniture design in 1992 with a remarkably energetic line of furniture for Knoll with frames and seating made of bent, lightweight wooden strops. (The pieces' names, such as Power Play and Cross Check, derive from ice hockey.) In 2004, Heller released a group of twisted, faceted furnishings in molded polyethylene meant to evoke Gehry’s architecture. But — whether its tableware, jewelry or furniture — all Gehry’s designs do that--sharing an animated aesthetic built on a solid foundational core. To possess a piece of Gehry design is to own one of his buildings, in miniature.
Find vintage Frank Gehry chairs, tables and other furniture on 1stDibs.
- "Seven Stacked Benches, after Shelves" by RO/LUBy RO/LULocated in Brooklyn, NYModular plywood shelving or bench or tables, made by the now defunct Minneapolis-based contemporary design studio RO/LU. There is a natural wax finish to the...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Post-Modern Shelves
MaterialsPlywood
$28,000 / set - Pierre Cruelle ShelvesBy Rene GabrielLocated in Brooklyn, NYShelves designed by Pierre Cruege in the 1950'sCategory
20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Shelves
MaterialsOak
$3,040 Sale Price39% Off - Aspis Shelves by ImperfettolabLocated in Geneve, CHAspis shelves by Imperfettolab Dimensions: 194 x 30 x H 194 Materials: Fiberglass Imperfetto Lab Who we are? We are a family. Verter Turroni, Emanuela Ravelli and our children...Category
2010s Italian Modern Bookcases
MaterialsFiberglass
- Cafofo Shelves by MamelucaLocated in Geneve, CHCafofo shelves by Mameluca Material:Various Brazilian reclaimed wood & acrylic & carbon steel Dimensions: D125 x W60 x H195 cm Favela (slum) was a place of high inspiration for ...Category
2010s Brazilian Post-Modern Shelves
MaterialsSteel
$22,530 - Transversal Shelves by FOAMBy FOAMLocated in Geneve, CHTransversal shelves by FOAM Dimensions: D 125 x W 45 x H 200 cm Materials: maple wood. Available in other woods. Bookshelf made of maple, walnut or tzalam wood. Foam is a de...Category
2010s Mexican Post-Modern Shelves
MaterialsMaple
$7,212 / item - Solo Shelves by ImperfettolabLocated in Geneve, CHSolo Shelves by Imperfettolab Dimensions: 100 x 51 x H 250 cm Materials: Metal Imperfetto Lab Who we are ? We are a family. Verter Turroni, Emanuela Ravelli and our children E...Category
2010s Italian Modern Shelves
MaterialsMetal
$6,772 / item