Innovation can be looked at from different perspectives. It can be argued that it led to something better or worse, but one thing that is for sure is that it has covered every aspect of our lives. The interesting switch is how one field affected another more than some people would notice. A good example is how Apple used its design innovations to influence a societal shift, making people reconsider the role of the phone in their daily life. Even though this is a good example of technological advancements and the changes they provoked in people's lives, looking at architecture from the last century appears to make a more complex and interesting connection than the obvious technological influence.
Frank Gehry, a well-known architect for his unconventional thinking and methods, explored interesting shapes in his projects. Since the 1960s, Gehry was particularly interested in experimenting with irregular and uncommon shapes, as well as unusual uses of materials. Starting with his first recognized furniture collection, “Easy Edges” (1969), consisting of chairs, tables, stools and other furniture, Gehry explored irregular and organic shapes. He developed an unusual technique for creating these forms by compressing leftover cardboard, layering and laminating it in a way similar to plywood, where layers are oriented in different directions to increase strength. This newly developed work with cardboard surprised with its durability and looks, creating a collection that was not only sustainable but also quite intriguing in appearance. The technique allowed the designer to consider even more interesting designs, challenging the norm and the accepted aesthetics of the time. The collection, even though being made from a “useless” material, eventually made its way into design and art markets and exhibitions. The collection gained wide recognition for the designer, which made Gehry even more ambitious to challenge the traditional idea of furniture making and purpose, as well as the accepted idea of luxury. What even is luxury? Heavy materials, durable design, fancy looks, high price, craftsmanship? The “Easy Edges” created an unconventional definition of luxury, being at the same time durable, interesting, but affordable. Three things that most people wouldn't say go together.
Gehry apparently found this new field of exploration in design fascinating, as he continued developing similar projects such as Experimental Edges, pushing the cardboard collection even further. He studied the properties of cardboard, being determined to show another perspective on packaging, a simple and visible, not luxurious material. Continuing his work into the second collection, he pushed into exploring another realm of cardboard use. If Easy Edges was a question of how to make materials such as cardboard usable and durable in furniture, Experimental Edges went into how to make it sculptural and appealing. Using softer cardboard with wider corrugations that was glued by hand, he achieved unrepetitive designs speaking of real craftsmanship and dedication. With this new design achievement, making the process and technique much more visible than the aligned and consistent shapes of Easy Edges, Experimental Edges qualified as high-end furniture and art pieces, rather than mass-produced durable furniture. Even though the pieces were still practical for everyday use, this made a difference between his collection and other art-intended works. With his second collection, Gehry not only proved that the innovative way of using cardboard could become mass-produced, durable furniture, but also shifted the idea of luxury even more, achieving artistic, high-end limited editions of sculptural objects and translating the same cheap material into a different cultural status. By changing the meaning of the material not once but twice, Gehry followed the idea of the postmodernist era, going back to creating reference and meaning rather than simplicity and function.
The two furniture collections and the innovative methods he used gave him a big jump in his career, which led him to explore innovation in design and architecture even more. During the late 20th century, the rapid race for space exploration and achievements led to massive technological advancements, making possible the design of spacecraft and space technology to reach the level of complexity they required. One of the most important innovations in the aerospace field was the creation of 3D digital tools, allowing engineers to build the required technology. It had a long way through the 2D digital era and the 3D simple visualization tools, which eventually led to CATIA in 1981. Even though Gehry didn't have a career in aerospace engineering, he found another way to make use of this new technology. Driven by his urge to explore unconventional shapes and materials, he found CATIA to be a helpful tool to test his hypotheses and ideas. By playing with the innovative digital tool, he translated his unconventional ideas from furniture to architecture.
A great example of his exploration is the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. CATIA allowed Gehry to put his methods into a literally bigger scale. The museum is created by interconnected curved and irregular metal volumes, some resembling ships, waves, petals or other fluid forms. The Guggenheim describes it as a sculpture-like structure, while the foundation characterizes it as sculptural and expressionistic. The use of metal as a material and its closeness to the water, which partially inspired the design, creates a controversial way of blending architecture with its surroundings. Eventually, this innovative architectural approach led to a project that renovated Bilbao's cityscape, which also led to the term “The Bilbao Effect” — the idea that a major piece of architecture can act as a catalyst for urban, cultural and economic transformation. The Guggenheim itself describes the 1997 opening as an event that transformed the city and redefined the role of the museum as an agent of social and cultural change.
Following Gehry's experimentation, from his furniture collections challenging the use of everyday materials and the traditional perception of luxury, to his transformation of sculptural and unconventional forms into architecture, it becomes clear that innovation was not simply about creating something new, but about questioning what was already accepted. The development and use of new digital tools such as CATIA gave Gehry the possibility to take ideas that were previously difficult to achieve and translate them into a completely different scale. The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao therefore represents more than an innovative building; it represents a change in the way architecture could be imagined, developed and constructed. Gehry's work shows how technological advancement can expand the boundaries of design, not by replacing creativity, but by giving it new possibilities.