Frank Gehry's proposed La Massana museum in Andorra was halted

Frank Gehry, who died this week aged 96, came close to bringing one of his monumental buildings to Andorra: a proposed Museum of Peace and Identity in La Massana that would also have housed the national archives.

Juli Minoves, now rector of the University of Andorra and former culture minister who commissioned the project, remembers Gehry as an extraordinary person. Minoves says the proposal had been approved by the Consell General and all the paperwork was in place, but the economic crisis and a subsequent change of government prevented the scheme from going ahead.

Susanna Vela, Minoves’s successor as culture minister and today a general councillor and leader of the Social Democratic parliamentary group, has a different recollection. Vela declared the ideas competition void, saying she did not like Gehry’s proposal — a very tall, massive building — and recalls dealing with the architect’s wife rather than Gehry directly. She also notes that Gehry’s team returned the Carlemany prize; despite the dispute, she says she admired him as an architect.

Minoves highlighted Gehry’s influence on contemporary architecture and the way his buildings, such as the Guggenheim in Bilbao, have become tourist attractions. He said the Andorra museum would have sought a similar cultural and touristic impact for La Massana.

Ultimately, the project—designed and modelled—was halted by the financial crisis and the change in government, a turn of events that provoked frustration from Gehry, according to Minoves. Both former ministers acknowledge the architect’s significant legacy even as they recall the unsuccessful attempt to realize his design in Andorra.