Canada-born US architect Frank Gehry, whose daring and whimsical designs from the Guggenheim Bilbao to the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles captivated fans and critics, died on Friday. He was 96.Gehry was perhaps the biggest of the so-called “starchitects” — an elite group that includes Renzo Piano, Rem Koolhaas, Norman Foster, Zaha Hadid and others — and enjoyed his fame, but absolutely hated the label.”There are people who design buildings that are not technically and financially good, and there are those who do,” he told The Independent in 2009. “Two categories, simple.”His artistic genius and boldness shone through in his complex designs — such as the glass “sails” of the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris.He popularized contemporary architecture, and became such a sensation that he was featured on “The Simpsons” — all while insisting he was a simple maker of buildings. “I work with clients who respect the art of architecture,” he said in 2014, according to his biographer Paul Goldberger.Gehry’s representative Meaghan Lloyd told AFP that he died early Friday at his home in Santa Monica following a brief respiratory illness.Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney hailed Gehry’s “unmistakable vision.”- From Canada to Los Angeles -Born Frank Owen Goldberg in Toronto on February 28, 1929, to a Jewish family that would move to the United States in the late 1940s, he later changed his name to Gehry to avoid becoming the target of antisemitism.He studied architecture at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, graduating in 1954 before enlisting in the US Army and later continuing his studies in city planning at Harvard University, though he did not finish the program.Gehry eventually returned to Los Angeles to start his career working for Victor Gruen, a pioneer in the design of shopping malls. He went on to work in Paris with Andrew Remondet in 1961 before returning to Los Angeles, establishing his own architectural practice the following year.The ’70s and ’80s would mark the rollout of a long series of his most audacious and innovative architectural achievements, many of them in southern California. Close to the avant-garde “funk” art scene in California, Gehry’s deconstructionist and experimental style — sometimes derided as crude — is hard to categorize. Many of his buildings — irregularly-shaped metal facades that can look like crumpled paper — could only be realized with the help of computer design tools, which he fully embraced.This is maybe best reflected in his seminal reworking in 1978 of his own home in Santa Monica, where he long resided — it features corrugated metal wrapped around the original 1920s building.Gehry received the highest architectural honor, the Pritzker Prize, in 1989.- ‘Bilbao effect’ -Almost a decade later, he would unveil arguably his most iconic design: the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, which earned him international acclaim and notice.The limestone and glass building with curvy walls clad in titanium scales is instantly recognizable as a Gehry design, and was once described by his American colleague Philip Johnson as “the greatest building of our time.” The building helped revitalize the ancient industrial heart of the Spanish city, attracting visitors from around the world and leading to the coining of the term “Bilbao effect” to explain how beautiful architecture can transform an area.”We will be forever grateful, and his spirit and legacy will always remain connected to Bilbao,” the museum said on social media.Emboldened, Gehry would take even greater risks in his next projects, which included the Walt Disney Concert Hall (2003), the Beekman Tower in New York (2011), and the Fondation Louis Vuitton (2014).LVMH chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault said he was “profoundly saddened” by Gehry’s death, calling him a “genius of lightness, transparency and grace.”Facebook tapped Gehry for a major expansion of its Menlo Park campus in California, which opened in 2018.- ‘I love working’ -Many of Gehry’s designs require complex computations — which he pushed to the limits.For a period, architects avoided the use of rounded or curved shapes as they caused headaches for engineers and led to spiralling construction costs.Gehry pushed back, using 3D modelling software similar to that used by aerospace firms to create unique building shapes while keeping costs in line with what developers would pay for a more conventional building of similar dimensions.The Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas — its walls and windows appearing to have melted under the hot desert sun — is a classic example of Gehry’s groundbreaking vision.”I love working. I love working things out,” he told The Guardian in 2019. 

He got a gold medal. He made a game show-style appearance with foreign leaders. And he danced to YMCA. The FIFA 2026 World Cup draw was officially about football, but really it was all about Donald Trump.The US president and former reality TV star stole the show Friday from the moment he strolled down the red carpet of the Kennedy Center in Washington.Sticking to his side like glue was the global soccer body’s boss Gianni Infantino, who has fostered close ties with Trump during both his terms in office, and ensured that the spotlight was on the US president from start to finish.Trump is hardly a stranger to bombast, but even he looked a little lost for words at one point as, after a slick video pronounced him the inaugural winner of FIFA’s new Peace Prize, Infantino waxed lyrical about his achievements.”Mr President, this is your prize. This is your peace prize,” he said, before adding with a chuckle: “There is also a beautiful medal for you that you can wear everywhere you want to go.”Trump proceeded to put the gong around his neck. “I’m going to wear it right now,” he said.- Three amigos -It was an act of consummate flattery by Infantino — who has faced criticism for his close ties to a number of authoritarian leaders — playing on Trump’s chagrin for not winning the Nobel Peace Prize nearly two months earlier.The award comes despite criticism from rights groups that it overlooks Trump’s hardline migration policy, his sending of troops into several US cities, and his military build-up near Venezuela.Trump faced mockery over the award from the office of Gavin Newsom, the Democratic governor of California and likely 2028 presidential candidate, which posted a picture of a child’s medal with a smiling star saying: “If you had fun, you won! PARTICIPATION.”But Trump was unfazed. He even mused about renaming American football to avoid confusion with the sport in question Friday — known as soccer in the United States but football in most of the rest of the world.Even more surreal moments were yet to come.Infantino summoned Trump, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on stage together as leaders of the three North American neighbors co-hosting the tournament.Their appearance had been billed as a moment of sporting diplomacy amid tensions over Trump’s tariffs, his proposal to annex Canada, and his suggestions that US forces could launch missile strikes on alleged drug traffickers in Mexico.- ‘This is shocking’ -Instead it ended up looking like a TV game show. The leaders stood in front of colored desks and opened up balls with the first names of the teams in the draw.The Canadian premier drew Canada. Mexico’s president drew Mexico.But there was only one center of attention. “I think I know what this is going to be now,” Trump said to laughter in the hall. “This is shocking,” he said as he held up a strip of paper saying USA.Then they posed for a selfie with Infantino, who posted it on Instagram with the caption: “Football unites the world.”Trump had been due to leave the ceremony after an hour yet appeared to be enjoying himself so much that he stayed in the auditorium for an hour more while the draw finished, sitting and chatting with Carney and Sheinbaum.Then he stayed on a bit more. The Village People were on stage playing his signature tune, “Y.M.C.A.” As he did during many campaign rallies in 2024, Trump rose to his feet and danced his signature dance. Sheinbaum and Carney remained seated.The three leaders however met behind the scenes afterwards for talks aimed at smoothing out their differences.Trump finished off his visit with a tour of the Kennedy Center, where he installed himself this year as chairman in what he called a war on “woke” culture.On Thursday, Trump had referred to it as the “Trump-Kennedy Center,” before adding: “Whoops, excuse me.”

NBA legend Michael Jordan appeared in a North Carolina court room on Friday, testifying that he wanted to “push NASCAR to be better” through his anti-trust lawsuit against the popular US auto racing series.Jordan, who is a co-owner of the 23XI Racing team in NASCAR’s elite Cup Series, lodged the suit with Front Row Motorsports last year after refusing to sign new NASCAR charters.On Friday he told a federal court in Charlotte, North Carolina, that he’d been a fan of NASCAR since he was a child, but felt he had no choice but to sue in a bid to change a business model that treats teams and drivers unfairly.”They don’t have partnerships, they have contractors,” Jordan testified of NASCAR’s relationship with its Cup teams.”I want to push NASCAR to be better. When you talk about charters, when you talk about partnership, that’s ideal.”The lawsuit accuses NASCAR and the racing circuit’s chief executive Jim France of operating without transparency, stifling competition, and controlling the sport in ways that unfairly benefit them at the expense of team owners, drivers, sponsors, partners and fans.The teams accuse NASCAR of anti-competitive practices including buying most of the top racetracks exclusive to NASCAR races and imposing exclusivity deals on NASCAR-sanctioned tracks.It additionally lists practices such as acquiring stock car competitor Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA), preventing teams from participating in other stock car races and forcing teams to buy their parts from single-source suppliers chosen by NASCAR.Analysts say the lawsuit could have far-reaching implications for NASCAR, but the tone in the court room on Friday was cordial, and even lighthearted at times.One attorney representing NASCAR thanked Jordan, a six-time NBA champion, for making his 9-year-old son think his father was “pretty cool today.”Jordan responded with a smile, and suggested that effect could be enhanced by a pair of signature sneakers.”I see you’re not wearing your Jordans today,” he said.