Frank Gehry Retrospective: A Century of Work and Collaborations

The Serralves Museum in Porto is staging a major retrospective dedicated to Frank O. Gehry, titled The Century of Gehry. Running from June 12 to December 30, 2026, the show occupies the Álvaro Siza Wing and brings together 19 projects that trace Gehry’s trajectory from early residential experiments to iconic works such as the Guggenheim Bilbao, Fondation Louis Vuitton, and the Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Curated by António Choupina, Director of Architecture at the Serralves Foundation, the exhibition is developed in collaboration with Gehry Partners and the Getty Research Institute. The display is organized into eight thematic chapters that invite visitors to see Gehry’s work as a dynamic fusion of practicality, imagination, and engineering.

Original sketches, photographs, models, and archival documents—from Gehry Partners and the Getty Research Institute—anchor the narrative. The loan of the Santa Monica residence model from Vienna’s MAK Museum adds further depth.

The show highlights Gehry’s collaborative practice, featuring conversations with fellow artists and architects, including a notable dialogue with Álvaro Siza, the Pritzker Prize laureate. At the same time, Los Angeles hosts Gehry’s sculptural pieces at Gagosian Beverly Hills through June 27, offering a broader view of his practice.

Exhibition scope and organization

The The Century of Gehry retrospective situates Gehry’s career within eight themes that reveal how his form, materials, and structural thinking evolved over time. The curatorial team emphasizes not only the final forms but also the processes that generate them—sketches, models, and collaborative exchanges that shaped each project.

The exhibition explores how Gehry translates physical constraints into expressive architecture. The collaboration with Gehry Partners and the Getty Research Institute ensures access to primary materials that illuminate Gehry’s method—from early residential studies to large-scale cultural landmarks.

Curatorial approach and collaborators

The show foregrounds Gehry’s collaborative practice as a core driver of his architectural language. The exhibition spotlights dialogues with contemporaries and students of the craft, including a focused look at Álvaro Siza, whose own projects intersect with Gehry’s process.

The two architects previously collaborated on the master plan for the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena. Siza has spoken about Gehry’s transformative joy and enduring influence on architectural history.

Key works and thematic highlights

Among the 19 projects featured, visitors encounter a curated journey through Gehry’s most influential forms and experiments. Notable landmarks include the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.

The eight thematic chapters guide the audience through Gehry’s evolving approach to space, materiality, and structure, from aluminum ribbons to complex spatial grammars. The show also includes early residential experiments and the Santa Monica residence model—an item lent by Vienna’s MAK Museum—that anchors the arc from intimate habitation to city-scale iconic architecture.

• Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
• Fondation Louis Vuitton
• Walt Disney Concert Hall
• early residential experiments (form and materiality)
• Santa Monica residence model (MAK Museum, Vienna)

Exhibition materials and access

The show assembles original sketches, photographs, models, and archival documents from Gehry Partners and the Getty Research Institute. The inclusion of the Santa Monica residence model and other archival material makes the exhibit a tangible archive of architectural thought and fabrication.

Parallel programs and regional impact

For audiences beyond Portugal, the concurrent presentation of Gehry’s sculptural works at Gagosian Beverly Hills runs through June 27. This creates a transatlantic dialogue about Gehry’s diverse practice, from architecture to sculpture.

This parallel program highlights the global reach of Gehry’s design language. It positions the Serralves retrospective as an important contribution to contemporary architectural discourse.

For engineers and architects, the exhibition provides a valuable case study. It shows how form, structure, and material come together in new ways, advancing both theory and practice.

 
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