Starchitect Frank Gehry may self-exile to France now that Trump’s been elected
Outspoken starchitect Frank Gehry is taking the whole “I’m moving if Trump wins” thing quite literally. The Canadian-born, LA-based architect told French paper La Croix just before the election that President Francois Hollande assured him he could go into exile in France if Trump became president. But as ArtNet points out, a possible relocation may have more to do with a personal beef than political leanings. In 2010, Gehry’s 8 Spruce Street surpassed Trump World Tower as the city’s tallest residential building, and we know how feisty the Donald gets when it comes to size…
8 Spruce Street, aka New York by Gehry
When asked his thoughts on Gehry’s then-newly completed tower, Trump said, “it’s always very tough to make something successful at the high-end level with a public school in the building.” The starchitect claimed Trump was holding a grudge from a time his firm turned away a Trump project, adding “I don’t like his hairdo anyway.”
Fast forward to today and Gehry is still not backing down, going so far as to compare Americans’ ambivalence towards architecture (specifically those who don’t consider him “an artist”) with the current political climate: “Most buildings built in the world are not interesting. And people do not care. They seem to be in denial. It is the same type of behavior that can elect Donald Trump…”
[Via ArtNet]
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