Gehry's 'treehouse' a work in progress

THE first Frank Gehry building in Australia has been cheekily described as looking like "a treehouse fallen from its tree"

THE first Frank Gehry building in Australia has been cheekily described as looking like "a treehouse fallen from its tree".

It is a characteristically odd-looking structure for the world-renowned architect, which university officials and even the great man himself admit will be difficult to build.

Positioned on what University of Technology, Sydney, vice-chancellor Ross Milbourne called a "battle-axe site" -- a cramped outcrop less than 1km from Sydney's Central Station -- the building's eastern face will have the appearance of folded cloth. The Canadian-born, US-based Gehry yesterday described its western side as "like shards of glass".

The $150 million project, co-funded by its namesake, the Chinese entrepreneur Chau Chak Wing, will be the heart of the university's $1 billion renewal plan for its central Sydney campus.

Dr Chau, a long-time friend of Professor Milbourne, donated $20m towards the project shortly after his son Eric enrolled at UTS to study design. Gehry is one of Eric Chow's inspirations.

Professor Milbourne said the UTS needed to build infrastructure that promoted teamwork and collaboration to remain competitive internationally.

"We need buildings that have classrooms and breakout spaces that are suitable for what I call 21st-century learning," he said. "There's no question that having a Gehry building raises the profile of the university."

He said he hoped the building would propel the UTS business school to new heights as one of the top schools in the Asian region.

Gehry said the design drew on his earlier Weatherhead School of Management in Cleveland, Ohio, and his Beekman Tower in New York, which also has a wrinkled facade.

But he said the Dr Chau Chak Wing building would go further. "It promotes that kind of hang-out, talk-to-one-another activity that is necessary for our survival," he said.

Gehry said the treehouse design was inspired by the need for interactive spaces and the physical constraints imposed by the site. "The hardest thing to do in modern architecture is to make it humane and give it a character, give it a feeling," he said.

He said those qualities were conveyed by the building's folds.

Gehry said his complex design had been subjected to a "thorough cost analysis" and claimed the perception that his buildings were expensive to build was misplaced.

However, he acknowledged that key aspects of the design and building process were yet to be resolved. "It's not a final design -- it's on the way to being (one)," he said.

Professor Milbourne said the university was searching for builders capable of using the cutting-edge technology required to fashion the facade.