In December 1988, Frank Gehry won in a restricted competition, against the more monumental projects of Bohm, Stirling and Hollein, the project to provide Los Angeles with a suitable concert hall. The architect thus consecrates his ties with his homeland and with Californian culture.

Gehry's fragmentary manner is faced here with a major challenge: the concert hall of today. The architect carefully observes the modern tradition, and analyzes the elements that have been affirmed since Hans Scharoun's Philharmonic: the shell-shaped hall with its seating trays and acoustic ceilings; the series of ramps and stairs that provide access; the generous foyer of large lights and structures; the chamber music room; and the large roof as an expressive element. Gehry accepts the models and fits them into the sparse urban plot of Los Angeles surrounded by other cultural and entertainment facilities. He renounces, as usual, the unitary building and composes the parts according to a certain disorder, with his peculiar way that then produces a conglomerate of volumes and textures...[+]