California Aerospace Museum: Los Angeles, 1982-4, Frank Gehry

Frank Gehry's work has been described as "habitable sculpture". He is widely acknowledged as the father of the "Los Angeles School". Characterized by their collage-like complexity, their shifts in geometry and frequent use of utilitarian materials, Gehry's buildings blur the fine line that separates art and architecture. Recent work includes the widely acclaimed Vitra Design Museum at Wein am Rhein in Germany, and the bizarre "Fishdance" restaurant in Kobe, Japan. The California Aerospace Museum in Los Angeles exemplifies Gehry's irreverent, exploded-then-reassembled punk style. Irregular, angular forms break out of spatial boudaries, restructuring them in multi-layered, overlapping and antithetical ways. Gehry's witty approach is encapsulated by the aeroplane sculpture on the building's facade, appearing to soar into the blue Californian sky.