I often wonder whether my architectural career peaked in 2006 – not because I had already accomplished a lot or designed my masterpiece – but because that was the year I resigned from Gehry Partners. As exciting as it was to return to Hong Kong, I left the world’s most famous architectural practice wondering if I would ever collaborate on projects as high-profile, emotionally striking and complicated as those I had worked on in my five formative years there.
Considered by some the original “starchitect”, Frank Gehry died on December 5, and the news sent a shock wave through the architectural realm, even though he had lived to the ripe old age of 96.
Many Hongkongers know of Gehry because of Opus, a private residential development with a panoramic view of Victoria Harbour. The 12-storey tower – underwhelming by Hong Kong’s skyscraper standards – is a twisting structure with exterior columns that climb the building like swaying reeds. Although Hong Kong had no shortage of groundbreaking projects before Opus – including Norman Foster’s HSBC headquarters and I.M. Pei’s Bank of China Tower – we had yet to be tested by a building of such sculptural qualities.
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Hongkongers should be tremendously proud and not just because Opus was built. Gehry’s design partner then was Hong Kong-born Edwin Chan, who worked as Gehry’s lead designer for 25 years, helping to realise iconic works from the Guggenheim Bilbao to the Fondation Louis Vuitton. Chan’s success is a testament to Hong Kong’s ability to produce exceptional talent. The question is whether the city can accommodate out-of-the-box thinking and, accordingly, give its architects room to experiment.
Indeed, Opus and Chan were not Gehry’s only connections to Hong Kong. The luxury residence offered only a glimpse of what he could have built in the city.
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More than 20 years ago, when the government formally invited proposals for the West Kowloon Cultural District, a Gehry-designed museum complex was at the heart of one of the submissions received.