Wary Gehry brings design to England at last

By Mike Collett-White

LONDON (Reuters) - Architect Frank Gehry, whose distinctive asymmetric, curved buildings are admired the world over, has unveiled his first structure in England, a country he says does not appreciate his ideas.

"I've heard people say they love my work, but not here," the 79-year-old told reporters next to his temporary wood and glass installation commissioned by the Serpentine Gallery in London's Kensington Gardens.

In a recent newspaper interview, he put Britain's apparent indifference towards him down to what he called the "scared-of-Frank syndrome".

Gehry also played down the regenerative power his designs can have on areas where they are built.

He is often credited with the so-called "Bilbao effect" where his acclaimed titanium-clad Guggenheim Museum has attracted visitors from around the world.

"That's a bunch of bulls***," he said, when asked whether he could do something similar in Britain. "You do a building, you solve the problems, people are happy. That's it. It wasn't about doing the 'Bilbao effect'."

The Serpentine pavilion is also Gehry's first collaboration with son Samuel, who encouraged his father to introduce the idea of butterflies into a construction originally inspired by the elaborate wooden catapults designed by Leonardo da Vinci.

"I don't know why I went there, but the idea of it was the first thing to come to mind, his catapults," Gehry explained.