Frank Gehry’s AGO expansion became the backdrop to Torontonians’ lives: CEO

Architect Frank Gehry speaks during the unveiling of his planned redesign for the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, Wednesday Jan. 28, 2004. (CP PHOTO/Aaron Harris)

TORONTO — Without Frank Gehry, the Art Gallery of Ontario wouldn’t be what it is today.

So says the gallery’s CEO, Stephan Jost, who points to the renowned architect’s 2008 transformation of the space as a formative moment for the century-old institution.

“It didn’t just solidify its position in Toronto or Canada. It solidified its position globally,” Jost says of the expansion project.

“And it kind of -- people made the link between Frank Gehry and Toronto. Of course he’s a Torontonian, right? But people didn’t always know that.”

The Canadian-born architect, who was 96, died on Friday at his home in Santa Monica, Calif., following a brief illness, said Meaghan Lloyd, chief of staff at Gehry Partners, LLP.

Gehry’s $276-million re-creation of the AGO includes the Galleria Italia, a long corridor that links several galleries and has a facade of glass and Douglas fir that curves down an entire city block along Dundas Street.

The project is also famous for the Allan Slaight and Emmanuelle Gattuso Spiral Staircase. The sculptural staircase is clad in Douglas fir and passes through the glass ceiling, connecting the old building to the expansion.

Those architectural features have become the backdrops to many Torontonians’ lives, Jost says.

“People take art classes here as kids. They go on school trips. They go on dates here. And quite a few people propose marriage here. It’s just one of those things that happens pretty regularly, because it’s a beautiful space,” he says. “And there are weddings that happen here pretty much every Saturday evening.”

In the Galleria Italia, he says, you can have a single table that seats 100 people.

“The acoustics are great, and it’s jaw-droppingly beautiful,” he says. “It’s kind of the best of Canada, because you’re connecting with people around you in this gorgeous space by Canadian architect Frank Gehry.”

Though Gehry is known for ambitious, attention-grabbing work, Jost says the AGO also shows the architect’s range. There are some galleries in the building that are scaled back.

“The Lawren Harris galleries, which are profoundly beautiful and very, very conservative -- people don’t realize that that incredibly poetic space is actually a Frank Gehry space.”

On a personal level, Jost says he first met Gehry about 15 years ago when he was working at the Honolulu Museum of Art. Gehry spent a lot of time in Hawaii, and they had mutual friends.

When Jost was considering the job at the AGO, he says, the architecture was a selling point.

“It was one of the things that was attractive about the AGO, because it has great architecture,” he says.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 6, 2025.

Nicole Thompson, The Canadian Press