Gehry Pleased with New Las Vegas Building

Famed architect Frank Gehry wanted his building for a new brain health care clinic in Las Vegas to stand out against the high-rise casinos and massive hotels that overpower most of Sin City and upon his first glimpse, he was pleased. “It took my breath away,” Gehry said of the nearly complete Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. "I like the way it fits. I wasn't trying to compete with the chaos around it." The 81-year-old icon has built his career on strangely shaped international structures. “It contributes to the city. If you deliver that,” he added, “it can create value and become an economic engine for the community.” Though Gehry previously turned down opportunities to design for Las Vegas, liquor distributor Larry Ruvo convinced him to give it a try several years ago based on his goal. Ruvo, whose late father suffered from Alzheimer’s, started the $74 million project to attract an elite national medical research facility to study neurocognitive disorders such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and ALS.