{"id":551742,"date":"2026-07-15T23:19:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T23:19:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/551742\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T23:19:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T23:19:14","slug":"7-tons-and-whaddya-get-a-quarter-of-a-million-for-a-frank-gehry-desk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/551742\/","title":{"rendered":"7 tons and whaddya get? A quarter of a million for a Frank Gehry desk"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 7-ton glass desk designed by the late architect Frank Gehry for the lobby of the Inland Steel Building sold at auction Wednesday for $243,200.<\/p>\n

The 16-piece ensemble, made of emerald-colored glass and named Icehenge, had been anticipated to fetch between $100,000 and $200,000<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Freeman\u2019s, who handled the online auction of the desk, listed the winning bid on its website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While Freeman\u2019s made known the successful bid for the one-of-kind item, the auction house was mum on the identity of the lucky paddle-raiser. The company didn\u2019t respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n

The auction result means the likely end to a small but noteworthy chapter in Chicago\u2019s storied history of architecture and design.<\/p>\n

Gehry \u2014 whose portfolio includes internationally renowned structures such as the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and Millennium Park\u2019s Pritzker Pavilion and BP Pedestrian Bridge \u2014 held a nearly life-long admiration for Chicago\u2019s sleek Inland Steel Building, 30 W. Monroe St.<\/p>\n

From 2005 to 2007, the architect had a small ownership piece of the Inland Steel Building, a 19-story skyscraper designed by SOM and built in 1958.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Exterior<\/p>\n

Inland Steel Building at 30 W. Monroe St.<\/p>\n

Anthony Vazquez\/Sun-Times<\/p>\n

Working with John Lewis Glass Studio, now Christison Lewis<\/a>, in Oakland, California, Gehry created the 15,000-lb desk unit specifically for the Inland Steel\u2019s lobby.<\/p>\n

The work \u2014 a staffed and functioning security desk \u2014 was installed in the building in 2012.<\/p>\n

Gehry died in 2025<\/a> at age 96.<\/p>\n

Icehenge is as much sculpture as it is furniture, with the same billowing, sail-like quality found in many of Gehry\u2019s designs. But the work is also visually untamed, jagged and unpredictable.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt does look like an explosion in a glass factory, kind of,\u201d the Los Angeles architect told Chicago architecture critic Blair Kamin in 2013. \u201cIf you actually had an explosion at a glass factory, apart from everyone getting killed, it would be pretty exciting visually.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The 16-piece ensemble is as much a sculpture as it is a lobby security desk \u2014 maybe more so.<\/p>\n

The piece is composed of two main desktops, plus base supports and decorative forms \u2014 all made of glass. There are also a pair of mirrored cabinets.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a lot of heavy glass and accoutrements for the winning bidder to move. And the desk\u2019s destination better be pretty sturdy: Icehenge is heavier than the combined weight of four nicely-optioned 2026 Honda Accord sedans.<\/p>\n

And in order to get the piece out of the building, the buyer will have to cover the cost of removing, then reinstalling some of the glass-paneled lobby windows of the skyscraper, a protected city landmark and globally-recognized high point in modern architecture.<\/p>\n

The buyer will also need a \u201creputable, experienced transporter,\u201d and the piece will have to be removed \u201cbased on the timing of delivery of a replacement desk, which is expected to be delivered in mid-September,\u201d according to the auction details.<\/p>\n

The Inland Steel Building is owned by New York Life Insurance Co., which acquired the deed from the Inland Steel\u2019s previous owners, Capital Properties, in 2025, in lieu of foreclosure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 7-ton glass desk designed by the late architect Frank Gehry for the lobby of the Inland Steel…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":551743,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[307,304,305,306,308,93,61,60],"class_list":["post-551742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=551742"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551742\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/551743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=551742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=551742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=551742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}