This paper will discuss architect Frank O. Gehry's design of the campus for the Law School of Loyola Marymount University near downtown Los Angeles. The paper will also explore how the architect constructed the campus to fit in with the urban fabric of Los Angeles and explain Gehry's theory of urbanism. The discussion will explain how the architect's design achieved specific practical and aesthetical goals and will also summarize and identify the architect's main design theories for the law school campus. The paper will also outline the different phases of construction which Frank O. Gehry and an associated architectural firm completed for the law school.
Architect Frank O. Gehry's campus-like design of the Law School of Loyola Marymount University has been called "his finest work yet" (Goldberger, 1985, p. 55). While designing the new campus for the law school, Gehry was concerned with creating something which incorporated "traditional urbanistic norms" (Scully, 1988, p. 271). In other words, the architect wanted to build something which was not out of context with the surrounding urban environment, but rather blended in with the drab and nondescript commercial buildings which line the side of the law school facing the vehicle traffic on Olympic Boulevard. The law school's faculty members had also expressed their hope that the new buildings would look permanent and incorporate some symbolic references to the history and traditions of law (Gehry, 1985, p. 220). Gehry began working with the law school's administration and faculty, and together they developed a design plan which promoted cross-campus traffic and provided casual meeting areas for students.
Before Frank O. Gehry & Associates and associated architects Brooks-Collier (Gehry, 1985, p. 220) were commissioned to design a consolidated urban campus for the Loyola University Law School in Los Angeles, the building consisted of a single 55,000 square foot buil...