If you’ve read my bio, you know that in my previous life, before mining and finance and whatnot, I was an architect. I was registered and practised for a few years in Argentina. I went to Uni (as Australia calls University) in Tucuman, a city in northern Argentina, where Cesar Pelli, the most famous architect to come from the country, studied. He built the Petronas towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, if you never heard of him. And he’s quite an inspired lecturer. But I digress.
When you study architecture you are supposed to pick one favorite architect from the masters -usually either Frank Lloyd Wright or Le Corbusier, I chose the former-. Inspiration is best found by looking at great design so then you pick someone else from those currently practising. For me it was a natural choice, being such a big FLW fan, to choose Frank Gehry. Not only both Gehry & Wright are American, but they share a contextual sense of how a building should come to life as a perfect reflection of its location in a grandiose, unforgettable way, but they both designed a Guggenheim Museum. And my thesis project was a museum, so it is a topic very dear to me.
I had been lucky enough to visit several buildings by FLW, and one by Gehry. I still haven’t been able to go to Bilbao to see his take on the Gug but this building is absolutely the most wonderful ever.
The building is a symphony of forms, lights, materials and weirdly delicious spaces that took my breath away.
You can tell, by visiting this great building that its designer loves what he does. Because loving what you do imbues your work -whatever it is- with a piece of your soul. And it is a joyful bit to discover, for whoever comes in contact with it.
I love my job. It may not be architecture anymore but hopefully I am doing just that… and you too!
PAOLA ROJAS' BLOG 