Binoculars Building by Frank Gehry
Venice, Los Angeles, US
1991
This West Coast HQ for advertising agency Chiat/Day was designed by Frank Gehry. When the ad agency departed, the building became rentable office space and adopted its self-explanatory nickname, the Binoculars Building. The building is a combination of three distinct portions – the central one being a pair of over-sized binoculars, an artwork by Coosje van Bruggen and Claes Oldenburg that opens up a pedestrian and vehicle entrance. Only the Los Angeles-based Gehry could have dreamed up this theatrical and humourous design, that looks like it should belong in a theme park. Google is one of the more recent office tenants, moving there in 2011.
Photography: Grant Mudford
The SIS Building by Terry Farrell
London, UK
1994
A leader of postmodern architectural theory, architect Terry Farrell reached a pinnacle of British postmodernism with his SIS Building that is now held up as a key example of the movement. Known to Londoners as the MI6 Building, the cream-coloured stone and green-windowed block rises from the south bank of the Thames in Vauxhall attracting a fair amount of attention for a supposedly secret service building. Its accumulating blocks stack up in reference to Mayan and Aztec temple design resulting in a layered fortress that incorporates 60 open-air terraces into its design – as well as triple-glazed windows and butressed protection against bombs.
Photography: George Rex
The Neue Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart, by James Stirling (Michael Wilford & Associates)
Stuttgart, Germany
1984
Selected by competition, British architect James Stirling’s design for this museum of modern and contemporary art in Stuttgart combines traditional elements of 19th-century museum design with modernism. This can be seen most clearly in the materials – a luminous green steel frame collides with pink and blue handrails against the classical architectural palette of classical travertine and sandstone. The job of the building, situated on its sloping site, was to unite Stuttgart’s modern art offering with the original Staatsgalerie built in 1843. Stirling’s aim was to capture a sense of timelessness and demonstrate the evolving relationship between art and architecture.
Photography: Fred Romero
Clos Pegase Winery (left) and Hyatt Regency Fukuoka (right) by Micheal Graves
Napa Valley, California, US, and Fukuoka, Japan
1987 and 1993
Modernism meets ancient Mediterranean architecture at this Napa Valley winery designed by Michael Graves. Wine-lovers are welcomed through an impressive terracotta-coloured entrance portico supported by huge pillars. Designed for wine production and tasting, the winery is accompanied by a residence commissioned by its founders Mr and Mrs Jan Shrem and it also includes a ‘Cave Theatre’ excavated out of the 1858 sq m of caves.
Another of Graves’ grand creations, The Hyatt Regency Fukuoka holds a vast pyramid structure in its midst naturally lit from above and encircled by a rotunda of hotel rooms. The facade of the building is sheathed with a glass curtain wall that is a glazed layer above the pre-cast masonry grid. Inside, a grand stairway beneath a gold-leafed pavilion connects the levels of the building. As well as the hotel, the building contains a 11,000sq m office space, conference rooms, lounges, restaurants, retail, and a wedding chapel.
The Walt Disney Concert Hall by Frank Gehry
Los Angeles, US
2003
The whipped stainless steel peaks of the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles express the height of Frank Gehry’s sculptural magic. Bringing some drama to the downtown skyline, the totally deconstructed form of the concert hall is closer to art than architecture, yet somehow it manages to function as one of the most atmospheric venues in the world. Set on a glass façade at the ground level, the building opens up to a unique timber panelled interior with acoustics designed by Minoru Nagata.
Photography: Gehry Partners LLP
Piazza d’Italia by Charles Moore and Perez Architects
New Orleans, US
1978
Architect Charles Moore was commissioned by the city of New Orleans to design a piece of public architecture for the Italian-Americans of the city, who had arrived in waves of immigration from the late 19th century and represent a significant portion of the community. Working with the local Perez Architects, Moore assembled a series of classical public objects including a water fountain in the shape of Italy, colonnades, a clock tower and a Roman temple, arranging them like a still life. Moore abstracted these objects with modern materials, until the plaza looked like a two-dimensional painted stage set.
