Frank Gehry's "Icehenge" Desk Sells for Record $243,200

Frank Gehry's "Icehenge" desk, a 7-ton sculptural piece inspired by glass shards, sold for $243,200 last week at Freeman's auction. This sale surpassed auction house estimates and established a new record for a design object by the renowned architect. Roger Ward, VP and head of design at Freeman's, stated that significant works by Frank Gehry are rarely available, and this sale demonstrates the sustained demand for museum-quality design with exceptional provenance. Gehry, who passed away last year, was a highly influential architect known for distinctive buildings such as the Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Weisman Art Museum.

Gehry conceived the "Icehenge" desk in 2012, drawing inspiration from a glass element he encountered during another project. He envisioned a furniture piece that mimicked the aesthetic of stacked, angled blocks. The desk was originally designed as a security desk for the lobby of Chicago's Inland Steel Building, where Gehry held an ownership stake from 2005 to 2007. Despite its functional use with desktop computers and a phone, the desk's appearance is highly sculptural, resembling a superhero's lair.

The "Icehenge" desk features translucent green cubes and mirrored cabinets serving as its base, supporting two smooth desktop surfaces. Its stacked, irregularly shaped forms, reaching up to 6 feet in height, create a textured appearance and refract light. Gehry himself described the desk's aesthetic in a 2013 Chicago Tribune interview, likening it to "an explosion in a glass factory."