Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Abu Dhabi 'Orphaned' As Tributes Pour In For The Visionary

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times)

Frank Gehry's death at 96 has sparked tributes across the world, but in the UAE the loss is felt most strongly on Saadiyat Island, where the architect's final museum design is rising into its last construction phase.

Apostolos Kyriazis, Associate Professor of Architecture and Urbanism at Abu Dhabi University, said Gehry's passing leaves the long-awaited Guggenheim Abu Dhabi“orphaned”, even as the project moves steadily toward its expected 2026 opening.

Recommended For You IndiGo passengers left in tears as massive flight cancellations cost some their jobs

“Frank Gehry has been a 'starchitect'-a person that becomes recognisable in a much larger circle than its mere genre, to the degree of a pop star,” he said.“He belongs to this generation of dreamers... that assisted architecture to blur yet another boundary. Its form, its outline.”

Stay up to date with the latest news. Follow KT on Whatsapp Channels

'His buildings dance.'

Kyriazis, who has been teaching Gehry's work for years, said the architect reshaped how students in the UAE understand form, space and the potential of digital design.“His buildings dance. They are light, elastic, and swing on the wind,” he explained.“There are no more edges and outlines. The form and the mould have exploded into a thousand pieces... Only windows are left to remind us of the inner rhythm, the programme, the need.

Gehry's confidence in experimentation, he added, inspires young architects navigating an era of rapid technological change.“He had been tireless. Always innovative... always supportive of the architects' high intellect against their professional discredit by the industry of real estate, developers and tasteless clients,” Kyriazis said. His students at ADU, he noted, study Gehry's buildings widely.“Such names inspire young architects in a multifaceted way. From concepts to professional rights and from technological innovation to poetics vs politics.”

A Saadiyat icon shaped by the wind

Kyriazis described the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi - Gehry's largest museum project - as a monumental reinterpretation of Gulf architectural heritage.“A stack of cones and cubes, similar to bonfire wood, is a metaphor for the reinvention of the local vernacular: the burjeel (wind tower) and the arish (palm frond courtyard house).”

“Their stacking is highly dynamic and fragile, exposed to the Shamal in the north and to the banality of contemporary architecture in the south. Guggenheim Abu Dhabi... is both light, playful and elegant.” The museum's scale, he added,“already dwarfs the nearby Louvre and most of Saadiyat's cultural district,” even before its final cladding and interior fit-outs are completed.

Despite Gehry's absence, Kyriazis said the project remains on firm footing:“His passing will not jeopardise the completion of the museum. Gehry was there when needed to conceptualise and elaborate its implementation. Such buildings are designed in complete detail... and the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi has already passed to its completion phase.”

A legacy that will shape future dreamers

For Abu Dhabi, Gehry's true legacy extends beyond the museum's concrete cones and steel towers.“Gehry's legacy... will endure and spawn a new generation of dreamers. The dissolution of the rigid form and the outline already surpasses architecture's boundaries.”

Kyriazis added that while he never met Gehry personally, experiencing his buildings - in Sydney, Toronto and Barcelona - reshaped his understanding of how architecture could animate a city.“I would like to thank him for making our urban walks much more interesting and vivid. I would also like to thank him for defending architecture and beauty in the age of AI, of the superficial, of the (fake) image.”

Global tributes highlight Gehry's impact

Gehry's death has prompted an outpouring of tributes from cultural institutions, architects and admirers - many of whom highlighted his work in Abu Dhabi.

Guggenheim Foundation

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation posted an official tribute on Instagram:“Frank's genius magnified the Guggenheim's mission and showed why museum architecture matters.”

Academics and architects

Apostolos Kyriazis shared on LinkedIn that the“half-finished Guggenheim Abu Dhabi gets orphaned” in the wake of Gehry's death:

Architect Alex Dantziguian called Gehry“a genius of architecture of our times”, noting that the still-rising Guggenheim Abu Dhabi“will stand as a tribute to his work”:

Art world voices

Art journalist Judith Benhamou wrote on Instagram that Gehry had been in Abu Dhabi“just last November” and expressed sadness that he would not live to see the museum open:

Friends and collaborators

Artist Arturo Sandoval Arocha posted a deeply personal tribute, sharing memories of Gehry's warmth and humour during visits to his home.
“In that photo you can see what I treasure most: his simple, joyful presence... Those moments stay with me forever,” he wrote.

MENAFN07122025000049011007ID1110448830