Last year I attended the Dwell on Design conference in Los Angeles. It was a really interesting experience to see how they connected great design with innovative and sustainable ideas.

But that is a subject for another post. In this post I would like to share one of the other reasons for my trip: to photograph the Disney Concert Hall by Frank Gehry. While I was there I also stopped by the Getty Museum by one of my other favorite architects, Richard Meier.

Here are some of the shots I was able to create. And for all you photography nerds (me included), here is all the equipment used:

Camera: Canon EOS 5D
Primary Lens: Canon TS-E 24mm 3.5L
Secondary Lens: Canon 70-200m 4L
Tripod: Induro Carbon 8x
Tripod head: Manfoto 3265

I really love the TS-E, the tilt & shift movements give great creative freedom and vertical composition. What setup do you use for architectural photography?

Disney Concert Hall

The Disney concert hall is an amazing building. You can love or hate Gehry’s architecture, but one thing is certain: it is unique. This is the first building of his that I’ve visited and I was expecting a much different experience.

I started by parking in the building to test and see how the structure relates to the form. Test one passed with flying colors. When entering the atrium from the parking deck, it was a pleasant experience: rich red colors, wood panels and glass in perfect rhythm and union playing almost like music. I also was relieved when I didn’t see Mickey Mouse.

The volumes on the exterior are not pure sculpture, they serve a purpose in guiding the visitor into a central focal point delimiting the main volume, and a secondary volume to the north for special events. There is a break in the flow from the curves on it’s main corner opposite from the Opera building that shows a clear path to the entrance. Overall, the fluidity of the volumes gives the building a really light feeling in comparison to the Opera building next to it.

In the back of the building there is a really pleasant terrace overlooking downtown LA.

There is a really good documentary (available on Netflix): Sketches of Frank Gehry directed by Sydney Pollack. I recommend it if you like his architecture.