How It's Built: The Walt Disney Concert Hall
Standing beautifully in downtown Los Angeles is the Walt Disney Concert Hall. However, the history of what has widely been considered an architectural triumph in the heart of one of the most majestic and art-filled cities in the world was actually quite a bit more complicated than originally planned.
About The Walt Disney Concert Hall
The initial planning and conceptualization for the building started when Lillian B. Disney, the wife of Walt Disney, gifted $50 million in 1987 to the city of Los Angeles. The Disney family wanted to dedicate this money to build an arts and performance venue in the heart of Los Angeles where people could share collective experiences centered around the arts. It would also stand as a tribute to Walt Disney's love and devotion to the arts and the city of Los Angeles.
Finding an architect to design the Walt Disney Concert Hall was seen as a serious task. Creating a committee front-run by attorney and real estate developer, Fred Nicholas, the initial list of architects was comprised of 80 names from around the world. The list slowly was whittled down to 25, then six, then four, until finally, only Frank Gehry was left.
After Gehry submitted his designs in 1991, construction finally began in 1992 with the underground parking garage. It took about 4 years to complete this area of the Walt Disney Concert Hall in 1996, and cost about $110 million, a significant portion of the overall cost of the entire project. It was at this moment that the development of the Walt Disney Concert Hall became so complex that it was stalled for a few years.
The reasons for the delay and project postponement were issues surrounding politics, management, planning, and even bidding problems. However, the biggest issue was the lack of money. Fundraising money had gone dry, very little money was being raised, and all the construction that had taken place up until this point had been dramatically over budget. This led to some of the original designs being altered, including changing the original stone exterior design to a more cost-effective stainless steel exterior.
In 1996, after professional support, some successful fundraising campaigns, and media support, construction started once again. The Walt Disney Concert Hall was finally finished in 2003 and when all was said and done, it cost $274 million to complete. The parking garage was paid for by Los Angeles County while the rest was paid for by private donations including about $85 million from the Walt Disney family and $25 million from the Walt Disney Company.
About The Architect, Frank Gehry
As mentioned above, finding the right architect for the Walt Disney Concert Hall was a process that the committee overseeing the project did not take lightly. This is because they were looking to find someone who embodied the spirit, creativity, and imagination that Walt Disney had. They believed they found that combination when they selected Frank Gehry to design and build the concert hall based on his proposal.
Already a well-known and renowned architect before taking on the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Gehry was famous for designing buildings that were full of delight and wonder, but also serious undertones. This reflected what people often think when they watch Disney movies. The committee felt that Gehry had an imagination that was able to captivate people, paid homage to many kinds of artists, and cared deeply about the storytelling of his buildings. Essentially, he was able to fill all the criteria that the committee was looking for in designing a building dedicated to Walt Disney.
With his design selected, it was time to move forward with the process. Due to the nature of the building, many pieces had to come together throughout the design of the concert hall. For instance, because it's a venue for music and symphony, the acoustics of the building have to be perfect. As such, Gehry designed the Walt Disney Concert Hall based on the requirements of the interior rather than the exterior. For this, Gehry worked with Dr. Minoru Nagata, an acoustician who had experience working on similar concert hall projects in Tokyo.
How The Walt Disney Concert Hall Was Built
With construction starting in 1992 and going all the way until 2003, the entire project was about 11 years of construction and 16 years of planning. However, with all of that in the past, it is now remembered and seen as a necessary piece of downtown Los Angeles.
From the outside, the Walt Disney Concert Hall is known for its sleek shape and stainless steel exterior. This design is supposed to resemble silver sails. However, the exterior of the building was originally supposed to be stone as it would illuminate the light from around it and have a soft glow. Instead, the leadership committee and funders of the project asked for it to be stainless steel because of the Bilbao, another project Gehry was famous for which had a titanium exterior. This did not sit well with Gehry as he has gone on record saying that he tried to convince them to use stone for the exterior but it did not work.
The fact that the exterior was now primarily made of stainless steel actually caused quite a few problems for those in surrounding neighborhoods. The reflective nature of the steel amplified the heat of the sun to some of the downtown condominiums and caused them to be extremely warm. This led to the air-conditioning costs rising in those buildings and also made hot spots on the sidewalks and roads. It even caused an increased risk of traffic accidents as the building would shine a glare into vehicles during specific times of the day. After many complaints were made to Gehry's architecture company, they surveyed the building to identify the panels inflicting the most damage and sanded them down to be less reflective.
Once was all said and done, the Walt Disney Concert Hall covered about 165,000 square feet of space. Other materials that were used to make the Walt Disney Concert Hall include stainless steel metal plates as well as metal studs and exterior plaster. It also is made up of glazed curtain walls and pre-cast concrete, making a large portion of the design pre-fabricated.
Visiting The Walt Disney Concert Hall
While most of the designs that we talked about are on the exterior of the building, you can also do free self-guided tours of the building's interior. This is where you can get a good look and feel for how purposeful the interior of the build was in order to amplify any performances that take place.
The city of Los Angeles is rich in art and history and the Walt Disney Concert Hall only adds to that. It's definitely worthwhile to stop by if you're ever in the area.
