glad birthday , you old crumple undulation of brand , you ! L.A. ’s theme song edifice opened to the public 10 years ago today , giving the city ’s downtown a much - needed civic encouragement and cementing architect Frank Gehry ’s condition as a metal god . I wrote astory for this calendar month ’s Los Angeles Magazineabout the edifice ’s anniversary , and , in the process , dig up up a few more interesting facts that you’re able to read while you wrap Disney Hall ’s natal day present in aluminium hydrofoil .
Everyone thinks that Disney Hall is just Gehry rend off his design for theGuggenheim Museum in Bilbao . But the figure for Disney Hall came first . The initial $ 50 million gift from Lillian Disney , widow woman of Walt , was granted in 1987 . Gehry was selected in 1988 , and his design was announced in 1991 . Due to financial backing constraints , however , construction did n’t take off until 1999 . Meanwhile , Bilbao was dispatch in 1997 . TAKE THAT , SPAIN .
The original plan called for limestone . A prototype of a paries was even make and demo at the Venice Biennale in 1992 . But , after business about cost , the stone was replace with sword .
Disney Hall is actually just one small piece of a much larger , unbuilt proposal designed by Gehry called The Grand ( also called the Grand Avenue Project , figure above ) . The 3.6 million substantial foot mixed - use proposal features shopping , dining and several residential skyscrapers on three urban center blocks . The developer justwon an extensionto attempt to bring their plan to lifespan , but the design isstill being debated .
Okay , not epithelial duct tape , but a particular sort of adhesive material . The international wall are covered in 6,500 stainless sword panels , no two of which are the same shape or size . Permasteelisa , the grammatical construction team , needed a way to invisibly fasten each 145 - pound piece of blade — no rivet , no welds . The solution : 3 molar concentration ’s VHB Tape , an acrylic resin foam adhesive so strong it can arrest engine together .
Not surprisingly , Gehry ’s handwriting - adumbrate undulating wall and temporary shapes presented a challenge to contractors in the age of other computer modeling . His firm used computer software calledCATIA(Computer - sided Three - dimensional Interactive app ) , that was being used to design French fighter fountain .
https://gizmodo.com/a-brief-history-of-buildings-that-melt-things-1247657178
Well , at least the trees do . Landscape architectMelinda Taylorselected the anthesis trees in the garden because of their look and excellent timing . They bloom one after another , in very distinct shades : Hong Kong Orchid ( magenta ) , Strawberry Snowball ( red ) , Naked Coral ( deep red coral ) , Chinese Pistache ( orange ) , Pink Trumpet ( pink ) and Tipu ( yellow ) .
Los Angeles Philharmonic concerts at Disney Hall do n’t use any audio elaboration . The bulwark are clad with 133,000 square feet of Douglas fir acoustic paneling — the same wood used on the back of violoncello and violas — to supply optimum sound reflection to all seat area of the G. Stanley Hall . In collaboration with acousticianYasuhisa Toyota , Gehry custom - designed every element of the dorm , right down to the medicine suffer , which include a soundproof pencil shelf .
Gehry provide his own voice for an instalment called “ The Seven - Year Snitch , ” where he ’s asked to design a concert hall for Springfield . He tosses a alphabetic character from Marge Simpson onto the sidewalk , and visualize the design in the crumpled piece of paper , adding fuel to the widely repeated urban caption about Disney Hall ’s real - world inspiration . Gehry has repeatedly say it ’s not lawful — that the building was inspire by clipper ship and his love of sailing — and he has since said heregretted making the appearance .
There are 366 steps around the exterior of Disney Hall , including several hidden staircases which are not pronto visible from the street . In one incision , you may climb behind the construction ’s steel facing . Although plenty has been drop a line about the construction ’s pathetic relationship with the street , people do use these outside elements as a public distance . There ’s a park in the back of the second floor , and , in the morning time , local resident can be encounter ascending the building like a kind of architectural StairMaster .
ArchitectureLos Angeles
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