Frank Gehry's 'brown paper bag'

Photo : Andrew Worssam

 

'Sydney has joined the list of cities with a Frank Gehry-designed building' .

Wow what an exciting building! I remember seeing this BBC news item back in February and have been meaning to return to it ever since.It struck me as very pertinent to my third assignment and how I wished  lived in Sydney as it would have been exciting to have a go at capturing the building through photo images.

Apparently, and perhaps not surprisingly the Chau Chak Wing Business School building has been dubbed the 'brown paper bag' by local media.

Photo: Sahlan Hayes

Gehry has said that he hoped the building would generate a 'spirit of invention' in those who work and study in it'. The design is flexible with only a few fixed parts which allows the building to be changed over time to meet the changing needs of its users.

Personally I like the design but wonder if it is harder or easier to take photographs of this kind of iconic design.I thought it interesting to look at the images taken for the article, some of which are included here. The various angles and surfaces present themselves as obvious and interesting to capture and the texture ( undulating brickwork ) and materials of polished stainless steel ( e.g. the staircase above rising from the main lobby ), or large glass panels 
( offering the further dimension of light ). A more conventional building maybe stretches and challenges the creativity of the photographer? Nevertheless, these images do give a sense of what the design looks like...would have been interesting to actually see people using it though..

Photo: Andrew Worssam

I guess it maybe a while before the verdict comes in as to whether the building is effective as a usable space..snap verdicts often being very emotionally based!