Architect Frank Gehry’s unusual and visually striking buildings in Bilbao, Spain, Los Angeles, Toronto and dozens of cities around the world have made him one of the few recognizable architects working in the world of design. Our conversation on the campus of Columbia University touched upon the many ways a built environment can both reflect and uplift a population, a place or a moment. Frank Gehry’s buildings sparkle with light and energy unlike the vast majority of those which surround it, suggesting that aesthetics need not always give way to pure form or function in housing, commercial, industrial or recreational spaces.