Frank Gehry Forms Alliance of Architects/Designers

Laurie Olin, FASLA, is among the notable designers joining architect Frank Gehry's alliance to ''transform the building industry and the practice of design.'' Olin, a professor of landscape architecture at the University of Pennsylvania for 30 years, heads OLIN. For more on Mr. Olin, see ''Classical Form, Human Impact - Profile: Laurie Olin, FASLA, Principal, Olin Studio'' www.landscapearchitect.com/research/article/13092 (March 2010 LASN).

''The building industry has been slowly but steadily moving toward minimizing individual responsibility and away from producing architecture that solves client and community problems,'' explains Gehry. ''I am dedicated to giving architects better control . . . [to] deliver the fruits of their imagination. I have gathered a group of my friends together who believe in this mission as much as I do and who can help me find solutions that will ultimately lead to better buildings throughout the world.''

According to Gehry, this group will work collectively with GT to realize and demonstrate better ways of achieving higher quality, more efficient and cost effective projects.

The initial alliance and board members include architects David Childs, Massimo Colomban, Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid, Greg Lynn, Wolf Prix, David Rockwell, Moshe Safdie, Patrik Schumacher, Ben van Berkel, engineer Matthias Schuler, author/publisher Richard Saul Wurman and landscape architect Laurie Olin, FASLA.

The inaugural meeting of the alliance took place at the Freedom Tower in New York City Oct. 18, 2011. The reported discussion topics included demonstrations of new GT technologies/initiatives, the future of design and the role of technology in design.

The board of advisors will continue to meet ''virtually on a monthly basis,'' with an annual in-person session. This core group will also serve on the GT Board of Advisors.