Gehry to design Utah development

Architect Frank Gehry’s trademark metal-clad forms are coming to a $2-billion residential and entertainment complex in Lehi, Utah, which is about 30 miles south of Salt Lake City and has a population of about 36,000.

City officials this week approved plans by Brandt Andersen, owner of the Utah Flash basketball team, to build an 85-acre, Gehry-designed development that includes an amphitheater, hotel, shopping center, restaurants, residences and man-made lakes. Gehry also will design a new sports arena near the complex for the Flash, to be ready for the NBA Development League’s 2009-10 season.

The Pritzker Prize-winning architect, based in Santa Monica, is famous for using unconventional materials, such as titanium and corrugated steel on facades, and for his buildings’ wavy shapes. He designed the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and the Guggenheim Bilbao museum in Spain. He currently has projects in the works in Panama City and Las Vegas.