Gehry: 98% of everything designed today is ‘pure sh*t’

Frank Gehry, a Pritzker Prize-winning architect and the man behind the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, struck out at the state of contemporary architecture at a press conference this week. 

The Canadian architect was asked: "How do you answer those who accuse you of practising showy architecture?" He answered: "Let me tell you one thing. In this world we are living in, 98% of everything that is built and designed today is pure shit. There’s no sense of design, no respect for humanity or for anything else.  

"I work with clients who respect the art of architecture. Therefore, please don’t ask questions as stupid as that one." 

Gehry then apologised and said he was tired from travelling. The 85-year-old designer was in Oviedo, northern Spain, to collect a Prince of Asturias prize from Felipe VI of Spain. 

Vanity Fair has called Gehry the "most important architect of our age", although others have taken a different view.