Factory Building

Frank Gehry, 1989

The factory hall designed by Frank Gehry is located behind the Vitra Design Museum and is similar in size to the neighbouring Nicholas Grimshaw building. Here, the ramps and pillars serve as a formal connection to the Museum. The building contains production rooms, a showroom, the test centre, the canteen and offices. The first floor windows look out onto the entire hall and allow visitors to observe the production stages in progress.

About the architect

Frank Gehry, born 1929 in Toronto, Canada, earned a degree in architecture from the University of Southern California before studying urban planning at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design.

In 1962 he founded the architectural firm Frank Gehry & Associates in Los Angeles. He designed the cardboard furniture series Easy Edges between 1969-72. Over the years he has taught at several universities, including Harvard and Yale, where he served as Charlotte-Davenport-Professorship of Architecture (1982, 1985, 1987-89) and where he still teaches.

Gehry has received numerous honorary doctorates from institutions including the University of Toronto, the University of Southern California, Yale University, Harvard University and the University of Edinburgh.

Further Projects for Vitra:
1989 Vitra Design Museum
1994 Vitra Center (Vitra's Headquarters), Birsfelden near Basel
2003 Vitra Design Museum Gallery

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