A visionary of architecture
Frank Gehry, one of the most important architects of our time, passed away in Santa Monica on December 5, 2025 at the age of 96. Gehry shaped the architecture of the late 20th and early 21st century like no other. His deconstructivist, sculptural buildings changed cityscapes around the world – including the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the Neue Zollhof in Düsseldorf, the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris and the Marta Museum in Herford. He has received numerous international awards for his work.
However, Gehry did not only search for new forms of expression in large-scale architecture. He was equally concerned with the question of how design and art could be transferred to everyday life. A central concern was to design furniture that could be mass-produced and was also aesthetically sophisticated – a bridge between industry and art.
A special connection to Brakel
A remarkable chapter in this search leads directly to Fritz Becker GmbH & Co. In the early 1990s, Frank Gehry personally visited the company in Brakel to explore the possibilities of molded wood as a material. This encounter led to an intensive development phase, which ultimately resulted in the iconic Hat Trick chair series. The models were made from nine layers of maple veneer and later produced for Knoll International in the USA.
Two Becker employees played a key role in this: development manager Joachim Schelper, who created the prototypes using specially developed pressing tools, and long-time sales manager Günter Schwarz. He spent several days in Santa Monica in 1992 to work with three Knoll technicians in Gehry’s specially equipped development workshop on the final realization of the seatable and producible models.
Proud of a joint milestone
Becker Brakel looks back with pride on this collaboration, which led to one of the most famous chair families in modern design history. The memory of Frank Gehry remains closely linked to his inexhaustible inventiveness and his passion for breaking new ground.
Gerrit Becker, Managing Partner, Joachim Schelper, Head of Development
Chair Hat Trick, Knoll International, USA