Iron: Erecting the Walt Disney Concert Hall

By now, most everyone is familiar with the graceful curves of a building designed by Frank O. Gehry. Gehry’s Walt Disney Concert Hall posed extraordinary challenges to ironworkers. With the building skin stretched tight and tolerances shaved to a thousdanth of an inch, there was simply no room for typical industry standards. The new breed of ironworker relies on tools as ancient as hammers and as modern as lasers yet the muscular forms of these fearless workers defying gravity hundreds of feet above the ground is testament to the great unchanging tradition of their trade. Photographer Gil Garcetti had unparalleled free access to the construction site. The personal relationships he developed with the workers over the course of many months and his admiration for their artistry are evident in these moving portraits. Garcetti’s evocative images, reproduced in rich duotones, bring to life the romantic ideal of American industry.