Images of California Aerospace Museum, 1982-84, by Frank Gehry. Digital Imaging Project: Art historical images of European and North American architecture and sculpture from classical Greek to Post-modern. Scanned from slides taken on site by Mary Ann Sullivan, Bluffton College.

California Aerospace Museum, Exposition Park

Frank Gehry
1982-84

The south facade
Located in a park with museums, a sports arena, coliseum, and other buildings in a variety of architectural styles, the Aerospace museum is also attached on the north side to an old classically- influenced Armory (which comprises the majority of the interior space). This post-modern facade is made up of an arrangement of diverse sculptural components: a large metal-skinned polygon, a glass wall with a windowed prism above it, and a plain stucco cube with a hangar door.

Details of the Lockheed F104 Starfighter jet serving as a "billboard" advertising the function of the museum

Views of the south facade from the east and from the west

View from the west
A curving ramp leads from the south (mall) facade around the polygon to the north side of the building where the entrance is located and where the new structure joins the old red-brick armory. The unobtrusive entrance is almost a "back-door."

View from the east
A later addition to the complex was the IMAX theater on the east side. Like Gehry's own home and the courtyard of his Cabrillo Marine Museum, this work uses his early trademark--chain-link fencing.

The IMAX theater

Other works by Gehry on this site include: Edgemar Mall, Frances Howard Goldwyn Regional Branch Library, Indiana Avenue Houses, Loyola Law School, Norton House, Spiller House, University of Toledo Art Building, and Vontz Center for Molecular Studies.

Click here to return to index of art historical sites.

Click here to return to index of artists and architects.

Click here to return to chronological index.

Copyright © Mary Ann Sullivan. I have photographed (on site), scanned, and manipulated all the images on these pages. Please feel free to use them for personal or educational purposes. They are not available for commercial purposes.

Page created by Mary Ann Sullivan

	The south facade Located in a park with museums, a sports arena, coliseum, and other buildings in a variety of architectural styles, the Aerospace museum is also attached on the north side to an old classically- influenced Armory (which comprises the majority of the interior space). This post-modern facade is made up of an arrangement of diverse sculptural components: a large metal-skinned polygon, a glass wall with a windowed prism above it, and a plain stucco cube with a hangar door.


Details of the Lockheed F104 Starfighter jet serving as a "billboard" advertising the function of the museum

Views of the south facade from the east and from the west


	View from the west A curving ramp leads from the south (mall) facade around the polygon to the north side of the building where the entrance is located and where the new structure joins the old red-brick armory. The unobtrusive entrance is almost a "back-door."

View from the east A later addition to the complex was the IMAX theater on the east side. Like Gehry's own home and the courtyard of his Cabrillo Marine Museum, this work uses his early trademark--chain-link fencing.
The IMAX theater