Four years after its completion, Frank Gehry's concert hall is a civic icon for Los Angeles. I've also noticed it becoming an icon in advertising nationwide.
In the same way that commercial producers use dry lakebeds as a symbol of boundless freedom, they now use the backdrop of the Gehry's masterpiece to signify, for example, the bold elegance of their cars. As one ad executive predicted when it opened, any association with the building makes a "good product feel like a great product".
I love the building and hope that its commercial success doesn't make it more difficult for me to take photographs there. (I was hassled by security during this session.)
