With his designs for Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and Walt Disney Concert Hall, Frank Gehry has changed the face of modern architecture like no other. The legendary architect gives us a glimpse into his wildly creative mind before he makes his mark on the Hong Kong skyline. Interview by Edmund Lee.

In the world of architecture there are internationally renowned figures who, once in a while, appear to have mastered the game. And then there is Frank Gehry, the Toronto-born architect who has moved the goalposts whenever he has felt the urge to do so.

After moving to Los Angeles with his family in 1947, he started life as an architect and established his own firm in 1962. A die-hard modernist who insists on realising his bold visions with forms (his buildings organically curve and slant) and materials (the use of glass, stone and titanium is accustomed) instead of mere decoration, Gehry has been breathing life into architecture like a great artist does with his new canvas.

While the 82-year-old Pritzker Prize winner’s landmark Bilbao Guggenheim (1997) has come to symbolise the Basque capital and has been dubbed by Philip Johnson as ‘the most important building of our time’, propelling him to architecture super-stardom along the way (Gehry absolutely hates the label ‘starchitect’), his wildly creative phase is showing no sign of slowing down any time soon, with his Disney Concert Hall (2003) in downtown Los Angeles further confirming the architect’s pioneering role in his profession.

It has been a long and monumentally successful career: one that’s certainly enough to amaze even the handwriting expert who predicted Gehry’s destiny as a famous architect when he was 11 years old. As well as for his iconic buildings around the world, the architect has also been widely recognised for his three-dimensionally-conceived sketches. They constitute the important first step in a distinctive design process that has been hilariously and, some would say, aptly parodied in The Simpsons, where Gehry’s self-voiced character finds inspiration for a Springfield Concert Hall from a piece of scrunched-up paper.

Many of these sketches and design models are on display in Outside the Box, a retrospective exhibition that is being presented at Hong Kong’s ArtisTree to coincide with the announcement of Gehry’s first residential development in Asia. Named Opus Hong Kong, the new luxury tower at 53 Stubbs Road on The Peak will provide 12 apartments of 6,000sq ft each, and is expected to complete by next year.

While Gehry was absent from his exhibition opening due to unforeseen circumstances, the world’s most famous architect took time to talk to Time Out from LA, the city where he has long worked and lived.

How are you doing, Mr Gehry? We were a bit worried after learning you couldn’t make your exhibition opening in Hong Kong.
I am doing fine. I had very minor back surgery. I am pleased to report that the operation was a success and my doctors are very happy with my progress. As you get older, though, you are not able to spring back as quickly. So the doctors requested that I take it easy. I am very upset that I couldn’t be there to celebrate the exhibition but I fully plan to be there to celebrate the building!

Can you briefly tell us about your upcoming exhibition in Hong Kong? What’s its purpose and how did it come about?
The exhibition shows several of my projects – some of my better known ones and some you probably have never heard about. The exhibition focuses on my process, so you will see a series of study models. Swire Properties came to me and asked if we could collaborate on a show. We have had a fantastic time working together on Opus Hong Kong and I suppose they wanted to share the fun with the rest of Hong Kong.

You’ve said in the past that most people are resisting ‘real architecture’ by continuing to live with box-shape buildings. Does it surprise you that there aren’t more architects out there creating more organic forms? Not only are you one of the best; at times it feels like you’re the only one who’s consistently doing it.
Thank you for the compliment. I don’t look over my shoulder much, but I have seen some expressive buildings that I quite like by some of my colleagues, like Zaha Hadid. It’s a personal choice and it’s not for everyone. The world needs variety.

So what is it about these Cubist structures that appeal to you so much?
I wouldn’t call it Cubist, although I love Picasso and [Fernand] Léger so I take it as a compliment. I was looking at [Giorgio] Morandi and [Robert] Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns, Tony Smith, [Constantin] Brâncuşi, et cetera…

You know, there’ve been countless books, films and dissertations dedicated to making sense of your works. I’m curious to hear this directly from you: how would you describe your own style?
That’s a hard question. It’s about creating emotion with inert material, which ancient Greeks and ancient Indians were able to achieve with stone and metal centuries ago.

As your buildings are mostly recognised for their striking outward appearances, doesn’t that make you a sculptor in a sense – with the only distinction being that you’re working with extremely complicated structures in monumental scales?
I don’t think of myself as a sculptor. I am an architect through and through.

And is there any truth to the claim that you don’t care much about how the interior spaces end up being utilised when your buildings are finished?
I think you’ve misunderstood. I care very much about the interior spaces and how they are used. I work very hard with clients to make sure that the building functions in the way that they need it to function. You will see in the exhibition that I spend a lot of time working in simple block models to make sure that the building operates like a Swiss watch. If I do my job right, the building couldn’t be recycled as easily as you suggest.

You’re famous for the sketches you make in conceptualising your buildings; an interesting characteristic is that they’re almost always drawn in one stroke – your pen never seems to leave the paper. Is there a reason for this?
It is instinctual. I don’t know. It’s the way I have always drawn.

It looks like many of your designs begin with a free association process. Can you describe that moment in your mind?
My process begins with a thorough vetting of the functional issues of the building. I get to know these before I ever start free-associating. Somehow, I know when to stop. It’s hard to explain it but I am grateful that I can.

In the books and documentary films about your designs, they’re often shown alongside the visual art pieces that supposedly stimulated you at the very beginning, so we already know how much you’re influenced by visual art. That said, is your creative process – like that of many artists – influenced by music as well? I read a recent book that says you’re using Fanfare for the Common Man as your ringtone.
I love classical music. I spend a fair amount of time at the concert hall in Los Angeles. I have been listening to classical music all of my life. There is aural structure like there is visual structure. The Brandenburg concerto [by JS Bach] has a different structure than [Gustav] Mahler’s [Symphony No.] 6. I suppose that influences me – but at the subconscious level. It totally energises me.

This may be a strange question – considering you created them – but did you ever learn from the buildings that you’ve finished? Do they still speak to you personally like ‘your children’, or is it over and done with after they’re built?
After they are built they belong to the clients. I visit a few of them more frequently than others, like the ones in LA or New York. For the first few years, it is hard because I see all the things I might have done differently. Over time, though, I really grow to love them and to be proud of them.

You’ve said in an old interview, back in 1997, that there’re three buildings you’ve never visited after they were finished. Are there any such buildings at this moment?
No, I have seen them all.

When you won the US Architecture Award in 1981, you titled your talk ‘I’m not weird’. And now, I guess, you’re not that weird anymore. Do you think your critics have grown to accept your claim? Or is it more about the fact your clients nowadays all come with a certain expectation about what a Frank Gehry building will look like, so that nobody is complaining?
I have read articles recently that disparage my work and claim that I am not relevant. I don’t really listen to critics good or bad. I listen to the clients and I find that this creates the variety in my work. I have always only worked with clients who want to work with me and who stay in the process. This means that the project evolves in a way that is suitable to them.

When you make decisions in taking up projects, how big a consideration is the financial reward?
If I connect emotionally with a client, we will do the project.

You are currently working on Opus Hong Kong, which is commissioned by Swire Properties. Can you tell us a bit about this project? This seems to be your first residential project in Asia.
It is [our] first residential project in Asia. Swire Properties came to me with a vision and with an incredible site on The Peak. When they told me about their aspirations and their desire for this to be a special building, I was captivated. The team was interested in creating a new paradigm in residential living in Hong Kong; that was exciting to me. We worked very closely with them to create intimate homes with spectacular, changing views of the city. Each unit will have a unique connection to Hong Kong.

The one thing I noticed from past interviews is how much you appear to enjoy the collaboration process with your clients. What’s it like working with Swire this time?
Swire is a fantastic client. We have had so much fun together. They were completely supportive of my creative process and they were total collaborators. This is important. We spent a lot of time making sure that the layouts were right for the units and that the exterior expression was the right move for Hong Kong.

What’s your impression of the architecture in Hong Kong? There’s quite a bit of Norman Foster here to start with…
Hong Kong is a vibrant, exciting, vertical city. The density leads to exciting collisions of different styles. That diversity creates a magnificent feeling when you are down in it or looking down on it from The Peak. Norman’s buildings are terrific.

On that note, do you feel that architecture can help an overpopulated city like us?
Architecture can help overpopulation if it is used effectively by the city planners and other government agencies as part of an overall plan for the city. It is a tool that city agencies can use effectively for many urban woes.

And what do you feel about Hong Kong being the context of your new building?
I designed the building for Hong Kong. You wouldn’t build this building anywhere else. I tried to respond to the unique conditions of the city.

You’ve briefly said in The Guardian, in July 2008, that you reckon you’ve ‘got a couple of years’ in you. Do you still think about calling it a day?
I can’t imagine ever quitting, actually.

Looking back, what’s been the best part of your job?
The best part is coming to work every day and doing the work with all of my colleagues and clients. I am blessed. 

Frank Gehry's retrospective exhibition, Outside the Box, is at ArtisTree (1/F Cornwall House, Taikoo Place, Quarry Bay) until October 27, daily 10am-8pm. His first residential project in Asia, named Opus Hong Kong, is nearing completion at 53 Stubbs Road, The Peak.