Edward Lifson of Hello Beautiful! recently took a jaunt outside of Sin City to check out a new Frank Gehry edifice for a medical center devoted to brain health. Currently under construction, the Lou Ruvo Center comprises two wings in different styles that crash and reverberate at a point of connection, creating a very Gehry-like dissonance that may also reference the two sides of the brain. Left side: ordered, linear, logical. Right side: creative, emotional, random. Click through for more images and see if you, too, can understand the architect formerly known as Ephraim Owen Goldberg.
Jonathan Meades once called Frank Gehry a “one-trick pony,” and we’ll cop to echoing that sentiment more often than not. In this particular setting, however, Gehry’s building is appropriate, “a mirage crashing into an oasis.” And not to belabor the imagery of the “crash,” but such a narrative is apropos when considering the ethos behind a building dedicated to the failing mind, the body’s own formation and decay.
Speaking to the Gehry’s skill at creating a genuine architectural experience, Lifson points out that the interiors “recall a dust storm in the desert; under construction Xanadu meets Piranesi.”
Tell us what you think — tired of Frank Gehry, or just hitting his stride?
Bonus: take the Gehry quiz at The Guardian UK, with guest appearances by Roy Rogers, Brad Pitt, and Laurence Fishburne.