{"id":557069,"date":"2026-07-19T06:29:46","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T06:29:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/557069\/"},"modified":"2026-07-19T06:29:46","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T06:29:46","slug":"is-frank-gehrys-icehenge-desk-headed-to-a-museum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/557069\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Frank Gehry’s Icehenge desk headed to a museum?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 7-ton glass desk designed by the late architect Frank Gehry might end up in a museum \u2014 at least in the short term \u2014 the auction house that oversaw the item\u2019s sale said Friday.<\/p>\n

Called Icehenge, the 16-piece emerald glass desk created for the lobby of the Inland Steel Building sold Wednesday for $243,200.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe buyer is dedicated to maintaining public access to Icehenge and is considering a temporary loan to a suitable museum or institution,\u201d a representative of the Chicago office of Freeman\u2019s said. \u201cCurrently, no specific plans have been finalized.\u201d<\/p>\n

So who\u2019s the successful bidder? Freeman\u2019s wouldn\u2019t say.<\/p>\n

But Icehenge\u2019s new owners are not Gehry friends Thomas and Margot Pritzker, or their foundation, a Pritzker spokesperson told me.<\/p>\n

It was worth asking: Gehry was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1989.<\/p>\n

Internationally-known architect Adrian Smith also didn\u2019t wind up with the desk. His firm, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, is located in the Inland Steel Building, 30 W. Monroe St.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Exterior<\/p>\n

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

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

The auction result is an interesting addendum to a small but noteworthy chapter in Chicago\u2019s storied history of architecture and design.<\/p>\n

Working with John Lewis Glass Studio, now Christison Lewis<\/a>, in Oakland, California, Gehry created the 15,000-pound desk unit specifically for the Inland Steel 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 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 might end up in a museum \u2014…\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-557069","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\/557069","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=557069"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557069\/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=557069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=557069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=557069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}