Wow. Here's something we don't read everyday. As noted via Yahoo News, renowned Architect Frank Gehry is being sued by MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). According to the article "The school asserts that the (Stata) center, completed in spring 2004, has persistent leaks, drainage problems and mold growing on its brick exterior..." and that MIT is claiming "Gehry breached its duties by providing deficient design services and drawings..."
Very interesting... Read the entire article here.
Image by Bizuayehu Tesfaye for AP)
Alexis' Modern Glass House 
Before & After: A Bathroom Goes From Pinky Peach to Sleek and Chic
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Tom Black Espadrille
20 Scrumptious Brunch Recipes 
Easy Pitcher Cocktail Recipe: Strawberry Basil Margaritas
Comments (6)
(make it sturdy)
Boohoo, it's boring.
(make it interesting)
Wah Wah, it leaks and molds.
(fix it)
Boohoo, it's boring again and I miss the other one.
(say fuck it)
He's so unprofessional!
The nerds at MIT didn't know to ask about structural integrity?
they hired an architect, they shouldn't have to ask about structural integrity.
This doesn't surprise me. He was probably told about these potential problems by the structural engineer on the project or by someone else, but being "Frank Gehry: Master Architect" he probably would hear any of it.
Another case of an architect thinking he's God, and failing to realize that other people may make valid arguments, because it might compromise his "vision".
(My bitter Landscape Architect attitude may be surfacing- but it doesn't make it any less true).
How could they NOT have noticed that Gehry was about form and not function? That would be like suing Wright over the leaks in the Johnson building. If they were so keen on function, they should not have hired Gehry. No one who cares about function hires Gehry.
(I like both: I would never hire Gehry.)
Did anyone sue Mies Van der Rohe? (I would never have hired him either.)
They are great designers, but poor architects.
too bad, I love the way it looks. So whimsical. This will probably really be a detriment to others taking chances. Though I'm wholly on the side of buildings functioning as they are supposed to. Wish they could have built something that looks interesting and was also structurally sound.