Groundbreaking architect Frank Gehry's famous buildings, in photos

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Groundbreaking architect Frank Gehry, who died Friday at age 96, was known for designing some of the most imaginative buildings ever constructed. Over the course of his career, he was awarded every major prize architecture has to offer — including the field’s top honor, the Pritzker Prize, for what has been described as “refreshingly original and totally American” work.

Here's a closer look at some of his renowned buildings.

The art museum, which opened in the Bois de Boulogne park along Paris’ western edge in 2014, describes Gehry’s design on its website as “a magnificent vessel for Paris.”

Gehry was inspired by late 19th-century glass and garden architecture, and the building “fits easily into the natural environment, between woods and garden, while at the same time playing with light and mirror effects,” the museum's website says.

“The choice of materials became self-evident: an envelope of glass would cover the body of the building, an assembly of blocks referred to as the ‘iceberg’, and would give it its volume and its vitality.”

The museum of modern and contemporary art, which opened in 1997 along the Nervion River, is one of Gehry’s most celebrated works. Made of titanium, limestone and glass, the building has become an iconic attraction and drew 1.3 million visitors last year, according to the museum’s website. The exterior features curves, and the museum’s website describes the atrium as “crowned with a metallic flower over its skylight.”

The concert hall, described on its website as an “architectural gem,” opened in 2011. Home to the New World Symphony, an orchestral academy, its atrium features “cascading geometric shapes, curved surfaces and a vaulted ceiling with six stories of natural light,” while the performance hall is known for its “technical capabilities and acoustic integrity,” its website says.

His long friendship with the symphony's co-founder and artistic director laureate, Michael Tilson Thomas, fueled his enthusiasm for the project, the center said Friday in a statement mourning Gehry's passing.

“When Frank Gehry first stepped into the completed New World Center, he told reporters he wept” as he watched rehearsals with Tilson Thomas, the statement said, because he knew it was special.

At 76 stories high, this was Gehry’s first skyscraper. The building opened in 2011 in Manhattan’s Financial District as a “striking masterpiece of architectural design where artful living meets practicality and purpose,” its website says, adding that it was the tallest residential building in the Western Hemisphere at the time of construction.

Located in the city's downtown and home to the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, the building opened in 2003.

In a press release before the opening, the “glistening, curved exterior" was described as embodying “the energy, innovation, and creative spirit of the city of Los Angeles and its orchestra." The interior seeks to amplify concertgoers' experience of “the power and passion of music.”

“The outside of the building was designed to reflect the aesthetic of the inside, which in itself evolved according to the highest acoustical standards,” Gehry was quoted as saying in the press release.

FILE - Early morning sun rays illuminate the Walt Disney Concert Hall designed by Frank Gehry, in downtown Los Angeles, Nov. 19, 2009. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)

FILE - 8 Spruce Street residential skyscraper is in the Financial District in lower Manhattan, Monday, Feb. 13, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)

FILE - The New World Symphony performs under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas, during the grand opening ceremony of the New World Center, a facility designed by architect Frank Gehry, Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2011, in Miami Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)

FILE - Curves and angles mix in this section of the new Guggenheim Museum designed by American architect Frank Gehry, in Bilbao, Spain, Sept. 24, 1997. (AP Photo/Javier Bauluz, File)

FILE - The Louis Vuitton Foundation art museum and cultural center, created by American architect Frank Gehry, is photographed during the inauguration of the Gehry latest creation in Paris, Monday, Oct. 20, 2014. (AP Photo/Jacques Brinon, File)

PRETORIA (AP) — South Africa's top police officer, Fannie Masemola, has appeared in court in relation to a corruption scandal that has seen at least 12 other senior police officers arrested and charged by prosecutors.

Masemola, who remains in his position as head of the police, faces four counts of violating the Public Finance Management Act, a law that regulates the government's awarding of contracts, in relation to an allegedly corrupt 360 million-rand ($21 million) contract to provide health and well-being services to police officers.

He made his first appearance on Tuesday to be formally charged after he was summoned to appear in court earlier this month. He is yet to plea to the charges, and could face up to five years in prison or a fine if found guilty.

It is alleged that the contract was irregularly awarded and some of the police officers received bribes from the winning bidders.

While details of Masemola's charges were not all spelt out in court pending further investigations, the charges relate to his responsibilities as the accounting officer for the police service.

The contract has since been canceled by the police.

The contract is the subject of a commission of inquiry appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa last year to probe wide-ranging allegations of corruption within the police service.

Lawmakers have also conducted a separate parliamentary probe into the allegations.

Prosecutors said on Tuesday that Masemola's case would be joined to that of 16 others accused, including the 12 police officers.

The officers, one of them a major-general and several of them brigadiers — some of the highest ranks in the South African police — were all released on bail.

They are accused of corruption alongside a businessman who allegedly has links to organized crime and whose company is at the heart of the multimillion-dollar police contract.

The businessman, Vusi “Cat” Matlala, is one of several witnesses who has testified on alleged links between senior police officers and crime bosses.

Matlala is being held at a maximum-security prison on attempted murder and other charges in an unrelated case.

Speaking to reporters after his appearance, Masemola downplayed calls for him to step down, saying that decison lay with the president and that he was continuing with his normal duties.

Ramaphosa's office has said he has noted the charges against Masemola and will address the matter “in accordance with the law.”

The case has been postponed to May 13.

South Africa's national police commissioner Fannie Masemola appears in the Pretoria Magistrates Court in Pretoria, South Africa, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/ Mogomotsi Magome)