The Disney Hall Debate--Gehry Supporters Have Say

Both sides of the controversy over the Walt Disney Concert Hall have, it seems to me, missed the point. Both the “architectural masterpiece” and the “pile of broken crockery” arguments are correct. It is a masterpiece precisely because it does look like a pile of broken crockery, because that very chaotic design of eccentric shapes is an accurate reflection of the chaotic disconnectedness of the society for which it was created.

Yes, Disney Hall is ugly--but as a true delineation of the culture it represents, it does indeed meet the basic criterion of a “functional work of art.” What we mainly don’t like about Gehry’s design is that it shows us all too clearly just what kind of a society we really have.

DR. DORYE ROETTGER

Los Angeles