This is the first proper documentary on Frank Gehry, who was approached few times before by different filmmakers, yet he chose Sydney Pollack because he knew nothing of architecture. Pollack had a personal interest in making a documentary. The movie he was promoting at the time was turning out to be bad and he went on a tour around europe. When he first saw some pictures of Franks building he wanted to call in the construction workers. "It's a crazy dream of a building. It's like it was designed by Don Quichote on drugs." It's only when he saw Bilbao that it really hit him. He knew Frank for a while and he just couldn't believe that someone he knew could do something like this. This is not a balanced documentary but a take on how the mind of an artist works. He didn't make it for a lot of people but rather for himself so that he could learn more about it. In fact, Sydney Pollack didn't think of the whole thing as a documentary- he took it as a creative process, because it's hard to explain the genesis of an idea. According to Frank Gehry architectural photographers destroy the building, because they leave out people. and they are the context of the building.
"Is starting hard? you know it is... when i start i clear my desk, make stupid delays (denial), I'm always scared that i won't know what to do." (F. Gehry)
Every idea has been done before. you've got to realize that. The difference is the technology and the availability. Everyone learns from everyone else. We all do similar stuff, influenced by same things but it's our signature that makes it stand out (with technology etc.). Similarities are comforting- it's like, you get to jump of a cliff (challenge yourself) knowing that you have a parachute with you.
Frank never gives up, failure only motivates him even more. When he went to the architecture school in the second year he was taken aside and his tutor suggested he changed the subject. Needless to say, he didn't.
Instead of reacting negatively to criticism- Frank does what every egoist should do, he takes the building apart and starts all over again. You have to take good criticism with the bad. and you can get really put down in the process, but when you're true to yourself over time you start recognizing your footprint. Everyone has a different signature and you've got to trust yourself that when you work hard, it's going to come through in some way. There has to be a variety in the nature of the experience. A lot of people only take 20 seconds to look at something.
Architecture is very much about the materials as well as the shape. architects make beauty with junk. All projects start with a simple sketch, then comes a model. And this model is like a clay-work you shape and reshape it constantly, until you feel it's right. Frank designs from the inside out. Disney Hall is an acoustical game. A lot of classical music research has gone into it (understanding how musicians feel about the room). A conductor understands the room and conducts the orchestra according to the space. Early models are done understanding that sort of ideas. You always start from inside out. You cannot start with a shape and then jam stuff in. Frank Gehry is convinced that if he designed a shape without considering the purpose of the building he wouldn't have any clients. And it's all about clients and listening to them. It's not that different to advertising.
By the time he gets to the finished building he doesn't like it anymore. You always think you could do this or that. You get scared and you wonder- how are people going to feel about it? You are only ever satisfied when you hear how other people react to it. Architecture is a slow burn, it takes a while for people to like it.
The process is like a living thing, it's constantly evolving. The trick is to make that building relate to everything around it.
"When you're young you seek impossible perfection. You realize as you mature that there's no there- you ain't gonna get there." Anger is frustration that needs to come out in a creative way. Because you know something has to change and you need to find a way to change it. The difference between artists and people in general is that artist try to find a way to change the world whereas everyone else just wants to know how to handle it.
