Best Architecture

Take 22 million pounds of structural steel, break it into 12,500 individual pieces (some 110 feet long, some weighing 165,000 pounds) and assemble it under the Los Angeles sun. That’s architect Frank Gehry‘s stunning Walt Disney Concert Hall. After the silver-winged creation opened in October 2003, the $274 million home of the L.A. Philharmonic got an “A” for acoustics. Gehry, considered the dean of U.S. architects, designed the hall from the inside out, using 30,000 computer sketches. The centerpiece is the 2,265-seat auditorium with a sail-like ceiling. Says Gehry, “I wanted to create the feeling of a ceremonial barge on which the orchestra and audience take a journey through music.” The architect’s distinguished career includes the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain.