Frank Gehry, the legendary Canadian-American architect who transformed modern architecture with his bold, sculptural designs, died Friday at his Los Angeles home following a brief respiratory illness. His chief of staff confirmed that Gehry was 96 years old at the time of his death. Widely regarded as the most recognizable American architect since Frank Lloyd Wright, Gehry revolutionized the field by becoming one of the first architects to fully embrace computer design technology and pioneering a distinctive style characterized by exuberant, whimsical, and arresting collisions of form.

Gehry's most celebrated masterpiece remains the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, a spectacular titanium-clad composition situated along the Nervión River that received international acclaim when it opened in 1997. This fantastical structure not only heralded a new era of emotive architecture but also gave birth to what became known as the "Bilbao effect" – a phenomenon where declining cities attempted to spark urban revival through spectacular architectural projects. As Guardian critic Rowan Moore noted in 2019, the Bilbao museum became "the icon of what would be called iconic architecture."

Among Gehry's other renowned works are the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, which was completed in 2003; Miami's New World Center, a stunning concert hall finished in 2011; and the ethereal Fondation Louis Vuitton museum in Paris, completed in 2014. His portfolio also includes the distinctive Cleveland Center Lou Ruvo for Brain Health in Las Vegas, showcasing his signature style of fluid, organic forms that seem to defy conventional architectural principles.

Born Frank Owen Goldberg on February 28, 1929, to a working-class Jewish family in Toronto, Canada, Gehry was considered a relatively late bloomer in the architectural world. He moved to Los Angeles in the mid-1940s, where he initially attended the University of Southern California to study ceramics after completing a brief stint in the U.S. Army. His path shifted to architecture when a teacher introduced him to the work of Raphael Soriano, a prominent designer of postwar modernism in Southern California. As a young graduate, he made the decision to change his surname from Goldberg to Gehry, a choice he later attributed to his desire to avoid antisemitism.

Gehry's early career involved several years working as a mid-level designer at a firm that specialized in shopping mall design, while simultaneously taking on houses and office projects for friends on the side. In 1962, he took the bold step of opening his own architectural firm. A pivotal moment in his career came with the remodeling of his own house in Santa Monica – an eye-catching clash of crude and conventional designs constructed from unglamorous materials that suggested inner turmoil. While the project frustrated his neighbors, it drew significant critical attention and ultimately inspired a profound mid-life transformation.

The turning point in Gehry's career came in 1980 following a conversation with a developer client after completing another shopping center project. "Is this what you like?" the client asked him. When Gehry confirmed that it was, he told the Guardian in 2019 that the client responded: "Well, if you like this you can't possibly like that," pointing toward the shopping center, "so why are you doing it?" At the age of 50, Gehry made the life-changing decision to abandon his commercial projects and refashion his career as an auteur designer, focusing on more artistic and meaningful architectural endeavors.

Gehry methodically worked his way up from small-to-medium civic projects, including his notable 1983 design for the Temporary Contemporary (now known as the Geffen Contemporary) at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. It wasn't until he reached his 60s that he achieved his reputation-making triumph with the groundbreaking museum in Bilbao, which catapulted him to international stardom and established him as one of the world's most influential architects.

Known for his sociable personality, Gehry maintained the kind of celebrity circles befitting a star of American architecture. His office was adorned with photographs of himself alongside notable figures including musician Herbie Hancock, former Israeli President Shimon Peres, Princess Diana, artist Jasper Johns, actress Catherine Zeta-Jones, music producer Quincy Jones, and numerous former world leaders. Throughout his career, he remained based in Los Angeles and continued working well into his final years on ambitious projects such as the distinctive 76-story residential tower at 8 Spruce Street in Lower Manhattan, which appears to ripple with glass and steel and was completed in 2011.

"I love working," Gehry told the Guardian shortly after celebrating his 90th birthday. "I love working things out. I love the client interaction – I think it's a 50-50 game. I love that we do what we do, and bring it in under budget, which no one believes, but it's true." This passion for his craft and collaborative approach to design remained evident throughout his long and distinguished career.

Gehry is survived by his second wife, Berta Aguilera, as well as their two sons: Sam, who followed in his father's footsteps as an architectural designer, and Alejandro, who pursued a career as an artist. His daughter Leslie Gehry Brenner from his first marriage to Anita Snyder passed away in 2008. Gehry's death marks the end of an era in contemporary architecture, leaving behind a revolutionary body of work that fundamentally changed how the world thinks about building design and urban spaces.