Choie Funk Atelier
Architect: Maria Cynthia Ylagan-Funk
Engineers: Rey Gonzalez
Contractors:
Project Name: A Bungalow
Stage: Finished
Category: Residential
Location: Washington, Aklan
Ownership: Spouses Primitivo and Zita Masangya
Description: The site, in the island of Aklan, was formerly ricefields turned into a subdivision with existing irrigation systems. Mud beneath the ground posed a major challenge, therefore, mat foundation was employed. Owners’ home is designed in mediterranean style. Among materials used are Multiline roofing and Boysen Paints.
Architect: Maria Cynthia Ylagan-Funk
Engineer: Yulito Naraja
Contractors: Abellanosa-Marquez Construction
Project Name: A Two-Storey Residential
Stage: Finished
Category: Residential
Location: Terra Moy, Able Site, Tagaytay
Ownership: Spouses Mark and Maricar Napud
Description: Moving from their old residence in Bacoor, Cavite, this family wants to enjoy the cool breeze and lush vegetation that Tagaytay has to offer. But the Tagaytay is known for high atmospheric moisture as well as sulfuric content, encouraging the development of fungi on the exterior walls. Hence, a major consideration in its design is the employment of old-fashioned sandblasting accented with adobe tiles tinged with bricks, which is incidentally the same color as the fungi that grows. It also has that old world look of patriotic Cavite which the family wants to maintain. Roof by Puyat Steel.
I went to my first general membership meeting at the American Insititute of Architects-East Bay Chapter in Oakland and the topic for movie-viewing and discussion was the highly arguable genius of Frank Gehry and his architecture. Director Sydney Pollack has made his first feature length documentary on the acclaimed architect, Frank O. Gehry.
Gehry and Pollack have been friends for a long time and this was quite evident in the film. It took the director five years, beginning 2000, to finish the project. To begin his architectural design process, Frank Gehry does what he is passionate about: sketching. It is this very passion of Gehry’s that galvanized in Pollack his initial indicators as to how he ought to work on this factual film. Setting the film in motion by revealing Gehry’s initial strokes for the design of his projects, the viewer is taken to a smooth ride of watching these abstract drawings metamorphose from palpable, seemingly pop-up dummies, made of paper, cardboard and scotch tape, into impressive buildings made of titanium, concrete and steel. By featuring scenes in Gehry’s studio, on building sites, and in his home, while using his digital videocam, Pollack came up with a low-key shooting style that has formidably captured the very heart of Gehry’s unique artistic style coupled with his seemingly ambiguous persona.
On the whole, by talking about Gehry in this style, it did not reveal an architectural theory that is esoterically detached from the ordinary lives of people. Pollack’s genius instead touched on Gehry’s system of architectural principles, drawing a profound understanding of such an extraordinary architect and his singular architectural process. As Gehry was filmed with his heart-to-heart exchanges with Pollack as well as with other participants in the film, unveiled was a most pleasant interchange that was most engaging from beginning to end.
I researched Pollack and found out that his films have received 46 Academy Award nominations including three for Pollack for Best Director, and two for Best Picture. Out of Africa won seven Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director for Pollack. Sketches of Frank Gehry is Pollack’s first feature documentary. His films include “The Interpreter,”" Random Hearts,” “Sabrina,” ”The Firm,” ”Out of Africa,” “Tootsie,” “Absence of Malice,” “The Electric Horseman,”" Three Days of the Condor,” “The Way We Were,” “Jeremiah Johnson,” and “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They.”
Sony Pictures Classics that distributed the film stated that “Frank Gehry is that rare kind of architect who has garnered both critical acclaim and popular fame. His designs dramatically blur the line between art and architecture, yet the strong appeal of his sculptural designs does not obscure the role of function. Gehry’s is a painstaking process of subtle vision and revision, both in his famous sketches and in his models.” In 1989 Gehry was awarded the Pritzker Prize, the preeminent award in architecture and ten years after, in 1999, he was awarded the Gold Medal of the American Institute of Architects, its highest honor. Then in 2001, the Gold Medal of the Royal Institute of British Architects was also awarded to him. Among the buildings he designed, the most famous are the Guggenheim Musuem in Bilbao, Spain and the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles.
Personally, I am not a fan of Deconstructivism in post-modernist architecture, which is characterized by ideas of fragmentation, non-linear processes of design, which serve to distort and dislocate some of the elements of architecture such as structure and envelope. The finished visual appearance of buildings that exhibit the many deconstructivist “styles” is characterised by a stimulating unpredictability and a controlled chaos. Gehry’s works are actually perfect examples of such, even if he himself refuses to be identified with the movement nor to any particular architectural movement in general. But just look at his tortured, warped forms and you will see what I mean.What I love though about Gehry is the FREEDOM by which he does his art and therefore his design process. He crumples paper, uses scrap cartons and pieces of wood to come up with a design that is anything but logical… It is here that I believe Gehry to be very LUCKY to come across clients who believe in him. There is one gentleman, Lewis by name, who commissioned Gehry to design his house, ended up paying him $6M for fees in a span of 10 years. By then, Mr. Lewis’ lifestyle and goals have changed, and when he found out that it would cost $84M to build the designed house, decided not to build it. But he likes (although perhaps, “respects” is the more appropriate term) Gehry so much, he said that, given the chance, he would do it again. Go figure.Furthermore, I believe Gehry’s architecture is good only for particular structures (such as museums, concert halls, etc) since it defies form and logic, it should be regarded as an accent in the midst of the “more normal” forms. I would think Gehry has so much rage inside of him that it has to come out in his designs. Too much chaos, albeit controlled, but then again it is artists like Gehry that have the capacity to usher in genius of the future. Otherwise, humanity may be in danger of remaining stagnant and thus, oppressive to the soul.
Postscript: I may be a latebloomer, but I feel the passion within me. Gehry’s life is such an inspiration, notwithstanding the fact that there are many things about his style that I cannot relate to. If wings have been created for me, I ought to fly…
Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, CA
Gehry Tower, Hanover, Germany
Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centre in Scotland
Norton Residence, Los Angeles, CA
Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain
Frank Gehry House, Santa Monica, CA
