Paris has had a depressive, sad monument to a failed American Dream. What was once the building for the American Center in Paris founded in 1931, closed in 1994 for a renovation that went array. So array that the the Center closed 19 months later because of bad planning; leaving Gehry's only piece of architecture in this great city to sit up for sale. Thanks to the French gov't, this building has a new life as the headquarters for Cinematheque Francaise, the legendary film center, yet even though this building still declares it is a Gehry building, he had little to no involvement in its new transformation. A transformation that just might set sail this sinking ship.
NYTimes:
What makes this transformation unusual is that it was not carried
out by Mr. Gehry, although he did participate in the selection of
Dominique Brard of l'Atelier de l'Île as the project's architect. "It's
unique for someone else to rework a contemporary building designed by a
living architect," Mr. Brard told Libération, the Paris daily. "Above
all, Gehry!" Still, while Mr. Gehry's office said he would not
comment on the results until he next visits Paris, the critical
response has been positive. Frédéric Edelman, architecture critic for
Le Monde, wrote that while using Mr. Gehry's "vocabulary" and material,
Mr. Brard had given the building "new meaning and vitality," as if it
were always intended to be a film center.
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