With the study of Peter Lewis's very large house in Lindhurst, Ohio, which occupied him for almost five years, and the problems encountered in the construction of the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, for which the project was launched in 1987, Gehry realized the potential of digital procedures. Previously used primarily for image creation and structural design, they became a means of mastering the manufacture of building components and rationally evaluating them, however complex and confusing Gehry's buildings might be.
Without altering his initial design method, still based on sketches and models, Gehry was able to take control of all phases of building production, thanks to CATIA software, originally designed by Dassault engineers for aircraft design and construction. A pioneer of new forms, he thus became an explorer of new procedures, as the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao revealed to the world in 1997.
