Frank Gehry's buildings

Spruce Street tower
At the age of 81, Gehry completed his first skyscraper. It brings a joie de vivre to the New York skyline unmatched for decades Photograph: Paul Goguen/Bloomberg via Getty

An apartment in the Spruce Street tower. At 870 feet, it is New York's tallest residential building Photograph: Paul Goguen/Bloomberg via Getty

Los Angeles has recently named Gehry's Walt Disney Concert Hall as the symbol of the city, replacing the venerable Hollywood sign Photograph: Getty

Gehry was forced to sand part of the roof after motorists complained of being dazzled and pedestrians were avoiding patches of extreme heat caused by the building's reflected light Photograph: Barry Lewis/Corbis

The Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain. Frank Gehry's abstract masterpiece has curves designed to appear random, but carefully modelled on modern software to catch the light Photograph: Kenneth Garrett/Getty

The building is one of the few projects on such a scale that has gone up on schedule and in budget. This is due in part to the architect-centric model of project management Gehry insisted on Photograph: Corbis

The Neuer Zollhof building. As part of the regeneration of Dusseldorf's harbour area, Gehry's buildings tilt, lean and twist Photograph: Michael Sohn/AP

The Maggie's Centre, Dundee. The centres are for people who have recently been diagnosed with cancer. Gehry's design was inspired by a woman's shawl in a Vermeer painting Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/freelance

The Ray and Maria Stata Centre for Computer, Information and Intelligence Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Luminaries such as Noam Chomsky and Tim Berners-Lee have offices here Photograph: Richard Sobol/ZUMA/Corbis

The Experience Music Project, Seattle. This museum pays tribute to 20th-century rock musicians and was inspired in part by the iconic design of Stratocaster guitars Photograph: AP

The Rasin Building in Prague is also known as 'Fred and Ginger' after the way the structures seem to dance together Photograph: Paul Seheult/Eye Ubiquitous/Corbis

Gehry's first New York building, the IAC Building in Chelsea. It will serve as headquarters for Barry Diller, creator of the Fox Broadcasting Company Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty

Gehry's plans for the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2008. The plan uses timber in a highly chaotic form Photograph: Gehry Partners/AFP

Glass canopies will be hung from the wooden structure to protect people from the excesses of British weather Photograph: Gehry Partners/PA

Gehry residence
Gehry’s house, a low-budget makeover of a 1920s bungalow, was his creative calling card. He wrapped the building in corrugated sheet metal, timber and glass, translating the energy of sketches into built form Photograph: Susan Wood/Getty

The kitchen of Gehry's Santa Monica home Photograph: Susan Wood/Getty