[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 5 (Thursday, January 8, 2026)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E16-E17]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  HONORING THE LIFE OF FRANK O. GEHRY

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. TED LIEU

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 8, 2026

  Mr. LIEU. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the remarkable life and legacy 
of the renowned architect Frank O. Gehry. He passed away on December 5, 
2025, after a brief battle with a respiratory illness, Mr. Gehry was 
not only one of the most influential architects of our time, but also a 
visionary whose work reshaped skylines and inspired generations.
  Frank Owen Goldberg was born in Toronto in 1929 and later emigrated 
with his family to the United States, settling in Los Angeles, where he 
was raised. Working as a delivery driver while he studied at Los 
Angeles City College. Frank was inspired by his love of museums and art 
to study architecture. He later graduated from the University of 
Southern California's School of Architecture in 1954. Around that time, 
fearing the negative impact of antisemitism on his architectural 
career, Frank was persuaded to change his last name to ``Gehry.'' He 
moved with his family as he began his studies at Harvard University's 
Graduate School of Design but left the program before completion and 
returned to Los Angeles where his career in architecture began.
  First working for Victor Gruen, the renowned Austrian American 
architect, and later the French architect, Andre Remonde, Frank quickly 
built his own unique design styles, and he returned to California. In 
1967, he founded Frank Gehry and Associates in Los Angeles. His 
earliest designs included Santa Monica Place, the Cabrillo Marine 
Aquarium, the California Aerospace Museum, the California Museum of 
Science and Industry, and the Norton House in Venice, California. His 
designs combined imagination with civic purpose, producing buildings 
that were as much works of art as they were places for community life.
  Mr. Gehry's daring and modern approach would later culminate in 
globally celebrated landmarks such as the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and 
the Walt Disney Concert Hall, cementing his reputation as one of the 
most influential architects of the modern era. Even in the later years 
of his life, he continued to devote his talents to projects in creative 
arts and fashion, including stores for Louis Vuitton and Bernard 
Arnault in Beverly Hills, California, and implementing the final 
touches on a 1,000-seat concert hall for the Colburn School of Music, 
right across the Walt Disney Concert Hall.
  Through these achievements, he inspired residents, policymakers, and 
artists alike to see architecture as a force for imagination and 
renewal. His ability to blend bold vision with functionality was 
extraordinary, and his legacy will endure in the skylines and 
communities he transformed. Mr. Gehry received numerous honors, 
including the Pritzker Architecture Prize (1989), the National Medal of 
Arts, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
  In addition to these iconic works, Mr. Gehry dedicated significant 
time to pro bono projects and public service. He was the founder of 
Turnaround Arts: California, a nonprofit organization that expands 
access to the arts in under-resourced public elementary and middle

[[Page E17]]

schools across California. In 2014, he began work with the LA River 
Revitalization Corporation to develop the Los Angeles River Master 
Plan, a groundbreaking restoration of the Los Angeles River to create 
green space for the communities and wildlife that thrive along its 
path.
  In 2015, Frank designed the Children's Institute in Watts, waiving 
his design fee to support families who had experienced violence and 
poverty. He also designed the Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA) 
center, completed in 2021, which provides free instruments, music 
training, and academic support to students from disadvantaged 
neighborhoods. These projects exemplify his belief that architecture 
could serve not only as art, but as a force for equity and opportunity.
  In his passing, Mr. Gehry is survived by his wife, Berta, and three 
children. I am thankful for the cultural contributions he made in Los 
Angeles County and his global design landscape that has centered 
architectural design to serve people. May his memory be a blessing to 
all who knew him.

                          ____________________