Designated Meeting Room #S231
Join Senior Project Designer and Project Architect Brian Zamora for an in-depth look at the design and development of two of Frank Gehry’s most unique and technically complex projects. The session begins with a deep dive into the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, a 60,000-square-foot outpatient medical facility with an unprecedented program that merges medical care and fundraising under one roof. Zamora will discuss how this unusual combination of functions shaped the building’s striking and unconventional design. He’ll also share insights into the use of 3D modeling and Building Information Modeling (BIM) throughout the design and construction process, including a look at the building’s distinctive mild-steel shell rib structure. Next, Zamora will explore the creation of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial in Washington, D.C. After winning the national design competition, Gehry’s team was challenged with developing an innovative “tapestry” unlike anything previously built. Learn how the team conceived and executed a groundbreaking stainless steel wire cable structure—spanning 600 feet in length and standing 80 feet tall—that provides both powerful imagery and memorial context honoring President Eisenhower.
Learning Objectives:
- Gain insights into the design and problem-solving approaches used by Gehry’s team in executing one-of-a-kind architectural projects.
- Understand the innovative design and fabrication process behind the Eisenhower Memorial’s stainless steel “Tapestry,” including its structural and symbolic functions.
- Explore the application of 3D modeling and Building Information Modeling (BIM) in the design and construction of complex structures, including the use of mild-steel shell rib frameworks.
- Analyze the architectural and programmatic challenges involved in designing the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, including the integration of medical care and fundraising functions.
Presenter:
Brian Zamora
Owner, BCZ ARchT (Former: Senior Associate at Gehry Partners, LLP
Brian Zamora is a 24-year veteran and former Senior Associate at Gehry Partners that has been focused on his own practice since 2022. It was at Gehry where he bridged both designer and technical roles on a vast range of architecture projects, acting in both the Lead Designer and Project Architect/Manger roles. This unique experience was formed on a number of prominent buildings such as the Eisenhower Memorial in Washington, DC (2009-2013), and the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas (2005 2010). Many of the projects at Gehry Partners required an approach following the principles of a “Master Builder” from conception to construction. This process involves working with engineers and fabricators early in the design process while the design is still underway. Zamora has taken these skills to smaller scale art and architecture projects through his office BCZ ARchT. Utilizing the technology developed on the Eisenhower Memorial, he produced twelve Exterior Tapestry Panels used as architectural features at the restaurant Yangban located in the Los Angeles Arts District. He has also been pursuing a direction in fine art and product design, blurring the definition between Art and Utilitarian. Zamora had a 3000 SF solo exhibition at CSULA – Luckman Gallery entitled Sculpted Light that ran from May-August 2024. Here, his creative design skills melded with 3D and fabrication methods was on full display in this uniquely “reverse engineered” light art. Brian is currently working on a single family home design in Pacific Palisades California and assisting the Ohr O’Keefe Museum of Art (Gehry project in Biloxi Mississippi) in completing the final phase of their construction.