Storied architect Frank Gehry may no longer be with us, but thankfully, legacies are a bit more everlasting.
The Walt Disney Concert Hall downtown remains an icon of the city’s center and likely will remain so in the decades to come. Gehry’s familiar aesthetic is certainly on display elsewhere in the world – and indeed, in Los Angeles County – but the concert hall holds a special place in L.A.’s heart and soul.
Gehry, who occupied the Business Journal’s LA500 list for all 10 years of its run to this point, was 96 when he passed away this month and was still actively working on his latest project. The world is all the better for his life and dedication to his work.
Billionaire philanthropist Edythe Broad certainly agrees.
“While Frank Gehry’s brilliance took form all over the world, it was his commitment to reshaping downtown Los Angeles into a cultural anchor that Eli and I revered,” she said in a statement, which included a photo of Gehry examining plans with her late husband Eli. “Frank was an artist’s architect, creating spaces where music, performance, art came alive, and his designs invited us all to reflect: what does a building say about a city and its future? Walt Disney Concert Hall did more than transform L.A.’s civic center; it transformed expectations.
“Los Angeles is more confident, more bold, and more beautiful because of Frank,” Broad continued, “and his work will endure as a perpetual reminder of what’s possible when we think outside the box, literally in his case.”
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Speaking of billionaire philanthropy, MacKenzie Scott has again been busy with a whirlwind of donations – including here.
Scott this month gave $63 million to Cal State Northridge, following up a $40 million donation she made to the university in 2021.
Then, Whittier College in, well, Whittier this month landed a $13 million gift from Scott – the college’s largest-ever single donation. This followed a $12 million donation made to the institution in 2020.
Scott also chipped in a $20 million donation to the Japanese American National Museum, again represent a largest-ever single gift and again following up on a prior donation – this time of $10 million in 2021.
