A sense of joy permeates the exhibit of models of the yet to be completed AGO rebirth, Chicago's Millennium Park concert venue (completed 2004), Cambridge (Mass.) Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Ray and Maria Stata Center and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angels (both completed in 2003), and finally the in 2001 completed DZ Bank building in Berlin. Complemented by sketches and drawings of his projects, as well as photographs, it also offers audio/visual components that contain interviews and testimonials that give the visitor a deep insight into the mind and vision of one of the greatest architects of the latter part of the 20^th and now the 21^st centuries.

One has an impulse to become a child and start creating imaginary lives inside these models. They are sophisticated doll houses that any child — even grown up ones — will enjoy. They are the building equivalent of the model railway — and we know who plays with those!

Most of us have seen the model of a new building at some time or other. Just think of the model of the new opera house, which music lovers can see whenever they attend an opera at the Hummingbird Centre. But seeing one model on its own and being surrounded by many is quite a different experience. Suddenly we are exposed to not just one vision, but to a creative process that reaches far more into the psyche of an architect. In the case of Gehry's wonderful models, one begins to realize how much of an artist and a sculptor he really is. This is not a man, who just puts up walls and roofs to specific requirements, but someone who reaches for the seeming impossible and pulls it off.

Toronto has often been accused of being a grey and too staid a city, without much imagination in its buildings. Of course, that is nonsense. There is lots of colour to be found in this city, there are many fine structures, old and new, that give Toronto a special flavor. I am always surprised to discover yet another beautiful treed-square with a historic building, or a new one that pops one's eyes. People have told me that, in comparison to the audacious steps taken by the Royal Ontario Museum addition, created by architect Daniel Libeskind, Gehry's AGO is a sedate old lady. It has even been said it is not a real Gehry, whatever that means. One can't disagree more.

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In Berlin, Gehry created what would appear to be a very un-Gehry building for the DZ Bank. Gehry's structures usually soar in one way or another, but not here. Berlin's severe building codes heavily constrained Gehry. The building codes for the Pariser Platz even placed constraints on him with regard to the relationship of windows to solid wall. The five-story high building's front is heavy, bunker-like, were it not for the manner in which Gehry plays with the windows on the ground and fourth floors. It is inside the structure that Gehry was left to have his imagination roam. He has created a large glass-covered interior courtyard and a closed conference area in the shape of a free-form sculpture that is dazzling. Since the building consists of both residential and business space, Gehry was also able to employ a bit more of his playful signature on the residential section. It is entered from another street, where the building codes allow more leeway.

DZ Bank Pariser Platz Facade - actual building - 2	DZ Bank Building, Berlin Final Design model Courtesy of Gehry Partners, LLP	Exterior of DZ Bank Residential Building - 3
	Interior of DZ Bank - 4

Still, this bank building shows that Toronto is not the only place where some areas call for more restraint on the exterior of a building. In this case, it was not the city building codes, but the concerns of residents living in the AGO neighborhood. Gehry, born in that neighborhood, was sensitive to their needs and made some changes to his original design presented to the public in February 2004. But, unlike the DZ Bank's bunker exterior, the AGO's front will definitely soar.

At the opening of the present AGO exhibit, Gehry, just two weeks shy of his 77^th birthday, said he hoped that the houses opposite the AGO on Dundas Street would not be replaced one day by some huge high-rise structure. Why? His design for the AGO front on Dundas is created with these lovely old houses in mind. The front should mirror them in a playful way just as the Brandenburg Gate is, surprisingly, mirrored in his sedate DZ Bank. And, just as in the bank, a great deal of Gehry's playful mind comes alive in the interior of the transformed AGO. His spiral staircase alone will be worth a visit to the gallery when it is completed. On the south side of the AGO, accommodating Grange Park and the 19^th century The Grange — the city's original art gallery — a four-storey titanium and glass tower will leave no doubt that Gehry has come to town — has, indeed, come home.

"Creativity is about play and any kind of willingness to go with your intuition. It's crucial to an artist," Gehry once said. He certainly shows this and takes us along on that playful journey in Frank Gehry: Art + Architecture.

Let yourself be surprised by his creation — it is the only way one can describe his architecture — of the Ray & Maria Stata Center at MIT in Cambridge. Here Gehry, following the wishes of the MIT mavens, created campus buildings that remind students and researchers alike that they are in a place where creativity is uppermost. Here is a place that reminds them not to think in a box, but to venture beyond boundaries and to let instinct, intuition and creativity rule.

Millennium Park - Jay Pritzker Pavilion, Chicago, Final Design Model, courtesy of Gehry Partners, LLP	Jay Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park , Chicago, courtesy of Gehry Partners, LLP
Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, Simulated view, courtesy Gehry Partners, LLP	Ray & Maria Stata Center, MIT, Cambridge, MA, Final Model Design,  courtesy of Gehry Partners, LLP

The Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angels was inspired by a ship with its sails at full mast. Here, as in many other buildings, Gehry employed his beloved Douglas fir on the interior of the building to create a very different kind of audience experience as the audience surrounds the orchestra platform. The building's exterior also softens the starker exteriors of surrounding high-rise buildings. One can say he created a very un-downtown Los Angels experience.

The Jay Pritzker Pavilion at Chicago's Millennium Park is another concert hall, albeit an outdoor one. Gehry's approach to this outdoor concert venue allows an audience of 4,000 to experience sound in a way usually only found in the acoustics of an indoor hall. This is a striking building that also captures the tone of Chicago for anyone who has been there. Wood and stainless steel are his materials here as well.

Just how playful Gehry's mind can be is also visible in the chairs, the famous Gehry watch and other items he created. This April, for instance, Tiffany's in New York will unveil six distinctive jewellery collections designed by the architect. He has even designed a vodka bottle for a Polish company. He has just unveiled plans for a new medical centre in the presence of the Las Vegas magicians, Siegfried and Roy, famed for their tigers and sequins. He is in the process of designing an arena, and a new home for himself and his wife. The old one in Santa Monica catapulted him to fame. He 'deconstructed' the original building, much to the discomfort of his neighbors.

So, when you go to see Frank Gehry: Art + Architecture, let yourself go. Be aware, that the fidelity of each building model is astounding. Put yourself inside them, just as you would have when playing with a doll's house or model trains as a child.

Just to make my point about Toronto being anything but a gray, staid old lady when it comes to architecture, the AGO will also present Culture City: New Toronto Buildings. It runs from March 9 through to December. It will feature scale models for some buildings and photographs of others. All of them cultural institutions that are either building new complexes or have or are in the process of revamping their old ones.