IAC HQ by Frank Gehry

06Apr07

The new InterActiveCorp (IAC) Headquarters is Frank Gehry’s first building in New York City. And, well, it’s definitely a Gehry.

A Daily Dose of Architecture has this to say about the IAC HQ,

The bottom, on the other hand, doesn’t fail due to forms or curves but from the way it meets the ground. Schools of architecture are always teaching this aspect of design, but here it appears that Gehry ignored that consideration. Not only does the building just basically end at the sidewalk, it also is primarily impenetrable, indicating that it will not contain any pedestrian retail. Its location on the West Side Highway may have determined this decision, though nevertheless its presence at this lower level could have been handled better.

The New York Times has a lot more to say though,

“Yet the building, which is not quite complete, also feels oddly tame. For those who have followed Mr. Gehry’s creative career, these easy, fluid forms are a marked departure from the complex, fragmented structures of his youth. Rather than mining rich new creative territory, Mr. Gehry, now 78, seems to be holding back.

The results — almost pristine by Mr. Gehry’s standards — suggest the casual confidence of an aging virtuoso rather than the brash innovation of a rowdy outsider.”

“Mr. Gehry’s structure, the most fanciful of these, looks best when approached from a distance. Glimpsed between Chelsea’s weathered brick buildings, its strangely chiseled forms reflect the surrounding sky, so that its surfaces can seem to be dissolving. As you circle to the north, however, its forms become more symmetrical and sharp-edged, evoking rows of overlapping sails or knifelike pleats. Viewed from the south, the forms appear more blocky. This constantly changing character imbues the building’s exterior with an enigmatic beauty. And it reflects Mr. Gehry’s subtle understanding of context. Rather than parodying the architectural style of the surrounding buildings, he plays against them, drawing them into a bigger urban composition. The sail-like curves of the west facade seem to be braced against the roar of the passing cars. The blockier forms in back lock the composition into the lower brick buildings that extend to the east….”

“His aim has been to redeem the corners of the world that we often dismiss as crude, cheap and ugly. He intuitively understood that what seems ugly now may be only unfamiliar. If the ideas underlying a design are strong enough, its beauty would eventually reveal itself.

The IAC building is elegant architecture. But it doesn’t make us rethink who we are.”

Strangely enough (or predictably enough, for those of you who know my aesthetic leanings), it’s that “tameness” that I find appealing about the building. It’s certainly unlike his other, more “adventurous” works such as the Disney Concert Hall or the Guggenheim in Bilbao.

What I find weirdly fascinating about the building however is its exterior finishing - it’s finished with frosted glass, clearing up only when it’s necessary.

It gives a kitschy twist to an otherwise typical Gehry form which, I think, is how Gehry approaches the requisite ‘adventurism’ you’d expect a lot of from his designs. Who else would consider frost glass as a permanent exterior finish BUT Gehry?

Here’s a video walkthrough of the interior of the IAC HQ, take note of the IT mural (composed of logos of IAC’s internet businesses) and the live stat tracker built in.

A look inside the new IAC Headquarters on Vimeo

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