Shapes and style: Frank Gehry's spectacular architecture

Arles has been attracting art lovers for a long time. Now, the city in southern France also houses Frank Gehry's latest creation: the Luma Arles Tower. The 56-meter-high (184-foot-high) "Tower" took 10 years to complete and is the centerpiece of a huge exhibition park owned by the Swiss billionaire Maja Hoffman. The building also houses a cafe and restaurant.

Titan, sandstone and glass — the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao opened in 1997 after only four years of construction. The museum on the banks of the Nervion River has become the Basque city's landmark, drawing 20 million visitors to what was once a decrepit city. Visitors come for the art, but also to admire the Gehry building.

This office building on the Vitava River is about a kilometer further north from the tourist masses that snake through the narrow streets of Prague. Frank Gehry and Croatian architect Vlado Milunic teamed up to create a structure that is reminiscent of a dancer nestling up against her dance partner, hence the nickname "Ginger and Fred."

The small town of Weil am Rhein in southwestern Germany is the German headquarters of the Swiss Vitra furniture company. Vitra turned to the Canadian star architect to build a home for its designer furniture. The building correlates design with architecture, art and everyday culture. Gehry built the manufacturer's factory building in the same style.

The Rheinhafen Center of Arts and the Media has three complexes that may be a bit less curved and interlaced, but are signature Gehry architectural works nonetheless. Using various materials, Gehry placed the buildings in a manner that allows the structures on the northern and southern side to mirror each other.

Panama is home to a remarkable diversity of species – a perfect choice for Gehry's first project in Latin America, the Museum of Biodiversity. The colorful facades and roofs are reminiscent of local Caribbean homes. The museum shocases the "origin of the Panamanian isthmus and its gigantic impact on the planet's biodiversity."

The red brick and steel "MARTa" museum for contemporary furniture art and design is another typical Gehry building. The small town of Herford was initially wary of the extravagant building with light wells built into the roofs: the citizens felt it was too costly. They have come to terms, however, with what has become a veritable tourist magnet.

Consisting of 12 individual spatial elements that recall ship sails, Gehry called this museum building a "cloud of glass." Built of wood, steel and large amounts of glass, the building allows a lot of light into the interior. The foundation for the Louis Vuitton luxury brand includes a museum that shows contemporary art from the likes of Warhol, Richter and Koons.

Though renowned for his temples to art, when Gehry was contracted to construct a new LA concert hall, there were many skeptics. Gehry's deconstructivist architecture is not for everyone. And could he create a building that would actually sound good? The Disney Concert Hall has since become one of the most important concert halls in the world – due both to the architecture and acoustics.

Gehry's house in Santa Monica, California, is a reflection of his artistic leanings. Since buying this house in 1977, he has radically redesigned it by constantly adding oblique new elements and sections. The house is self-described by Gehry as his "ideas laboratory."

The nonagenarian architect's career as a star architect began late: It was not until 1989 that he became internationally known. For Gehry it was perfect timing. "Architects will only be really good at 50 or 60 because their work depends on experience and they need many years to develop a unique language," he told the Zeit magazine.