Walt Disney Concert Hall Controversy
In February 1989, the Walt Disney Concert Hall Committee selected Dworsky as executive architect to work with designated architect Frank Gehry in designing the future home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Dworsky was selected to translate Gehry's conceptual designs into working drawings that would meet building code specifications. By 1994, the cost of the project had skyrocketed to $160 million (it eventually reached $274 million), and controversy halted the project. By 1996, a major donor was sought to complete the project by 2001 (four years behind schedule). Gehry and his design came under fire, and some considered him a spoiled, impractical artist.
Gehry publicly blamed Dworsky: “The executive architect was incapable of doing drawings that had this complexity. We helped select that firm. I went to Daniel, supposedly a friend, and I said, 'This is going to fail and we now have the capability to do it, so let us ghost-write it.'” Dworsky refused. Gehry was also quoted in the Los Angeles Times as saying: “We had the wrong executive architect doing the drawings. I helped pick him, I’m partly responsible. It brought us to a stop.” Gehry told Los Angeles magazine in 1996 that he “no longer speaks to his former friend (Dworsky).” Gehry continued his public attacks on Dworsky: “He (Dworsky) made a lot of money. He begged me for the job. I’d like to shoot him.”
Dworsky was eventually told to stop working on the drawings before he completed them, but he defended himself against Gehry’s criticism. “Knowledgeable people were supportive of us. They were saying it’s a very complex and unusual design, and they can understand the difficulties in trying to achieve this within a limited budget and a limited schedule. It was unfortunate that Frank came out with his criticism, but he was the center of the storm, having designed the building, and he was just trying to lessen the blame on himself.”
Dworsky also told the Los Angeles Times: “This is a one-of-a-kind building. You just don’t simply open up the plans and understand them quickly.” Dworsky's allies refer to Gehry's work as "confusing". Disney Hall official Frederick M. Nicholas also defended Dworsky’s work against Gehry’s attacks, denying that there were any problems with the Dworsky drawings not attributable to fast-tracking. Nicholas said: "They were not 'bad' drawings. It was a question of the subs no understanding them."
Read more about this topic: Dan Dworsky, Career As An Architect
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