PORTO.- The Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art is presenting a highly anticipated retrospective dedicated to the career of Frank Gehry (1929-2025), one of the most influential and widely celebrated architects of his generation. Curated by António Choupina, Director of Architecture at the Serralves Foundation, together with Gehry Partners and in collaboration with Getty, The Century of Gehry examines 19 of the Canadian-born architect’s most impactful and restlessly innovative buildings and projects across Bilbao, Toronto, Paris, Los Angeles, and elsewhere, to explore his radical approach to form, material, and structure.
On view in the Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art’s Álvaro Siza Wing through December 30, 2026, The Century of Gehry unfolds across eight thematic chapters, following the combination of instinct and intellect in Gehry’s creative process: from the rebellious intimacy of his Santa Monica house to the urban choreography of Loyola Law School, from the fragmented monumentality of the Chiat/Day Offices to the titanium tides of the Guggenheim Bilbao and the musical sails of Walt Disney Concert Hall. Through sketches and models of ongoing or unbuilt dreams, architecture comes to life as something dynamic and human – both practical and imaginative, shaped by creativity, emotion, and poetic expression.
The exhibition also reveals Gehry’s longstanding dialogue with artists and other architects, especially Álvaro Siza, with whom he worked on the master plan for the ArtCenter College of Design, in Pasadena, and whose friendship led to numerous exchanges between the United States and Portugal. From Los Angeles to Berlin, Paris to New York, Sydney to Toronto, the selected works feature someone who dissolved the boundaries between sculpture and architecture, gravity and fluidity, memory and future.
Katherine E. Fleming, President and CEO of Getty, said, “Getty is the steward of a portion of Frank Gehry’s extensive archive, and it is by far the largest architectural archive in our collection. We are pleased to share Frank’s work and our associated research as part of this exhibition, with the knowledge that it reinforces his legacy around the world.”
Gehry projects featured in the exhibition are: Gehry Residence, Santa Monica (California); Cardboard Furniture Series; Loyola Law School, Los Angeles (California); Chiat/Day Building, Venice, Los Angeles (California); Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein (Germany); Lewis Residence, Lyndhurst (Ohio); Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Bilbao (Spain); Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles (California); ArtCenter College of Design, Pasadena (California); Parque Mayer, Lisbon (Portugal); Ferreira de Sá Rug; Neuer Zollhof, Düsseldorf (Germany); DZ Bank, Berlin (Germany); Marqués de Riscal, Elciego (Spain); Dr Chau Chak Building (UTS), Sydney (Australia); Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris (France); LUMA, Arles (France); Beekman Tower/ 8 Spruce, New York (New York); Forma at King Street, Toronto (Canada). The original drawings and sketches, models, photographs and documents have been collected in the archives at Gehry Partners, and the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles.
António Choupina said, “There’s a before and after Frank Gehry in contemporary architecture. His was a tectonic shift in the way the architectural profession is and will be understood and practiced evermore, simultaneously propelling it into the future and reconnecting it with the past, before he was born in 1929, when art and architecture were one. He was fueled by a community of artists and friends from Los Angeles all the way to Porto, where he connected with Álvaro Siza, a poetic brother whose namesake wing is now able to celebrate Frank Gehry’s life and work. The mission of the Serralves Foundation is to bring the world together around architecture, art and nature, so it is extremely proud to share this all-encompassing vision through The Century of Gehry exhibition, thanks to the unwavering support and collaboration with Gehry Partners and Getty.”
Álvaro Siza, Pritzker Prize winner in 1992, said, “Joyfully, Frank Gehry started building something new, something that goes hand in hand with the ancient, ever evolving, combining traits of what is unique, natural and necessary. That joy he had slowly transformed the history of architecture. I hoped to see him again at Serralves but, despite his absence, I know that all the rooms in the museum and all the streets in the city will be filled because of him.”
Architecture is a core tenet of the Serralves Foundation, deeply embedded in its identity, mission, collecting practices, and programming. The Foundation recognizes architecture as one of the key fields it promotes alongside contemporary art, cinema, the environment, and critical social issues. The Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art and the Serralves Villa stand as significant examples of great architecture, exemplifying the Foundation’s commitment to architectural culture and heritage. The buildings are cultural artifacts in their own right, demonstrating how architecture actively shapes experience, perception and meaning. The Serralves Foundation’s Architecture Department is dedicated to championing Portuguese and international architects through temporary exhibitions, a robust archive of works and designs by major architects, a publishing program, and events. Its programming and collections live primarily in the Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art’s new Álvaro Siza Wing, which opened in 2024 and was named in honor of the Pritzker Prize-winning architect.
