A monumental desk designed by the Pritzker Prize–winning architect Frank Gehry sold for $243,200 at Freeman’s in Chicago last week, according to Artnet News. The figure is more than ten times its $20,000 high estimate and sets a new auction record for one of Gehry’s design objects.
Known as Icehenge, the sprawling 16-piece work was created in 2012 for the lobby of Chicago’s landmark Inland Steel Building, where Gehry oversaw a renovation after acquiring a stake in the property. Constructed from rough-cut, emerald-tinted glass blocks weighing a combined seven tons, the installation served as the building’s reception desk while doubling as a monumental sculptural centerpiece.
Although its sheer size made it an unconventional auction lot, Freeman’s said interest came from buyers across a range of collecting categories. The winning bidder also intends to keep the work publicly accessible and is considering a temporary museum loan, according to the auction house.
The project grew out of Gehry’s fascination with a fragment of textured glass he encountered while working on another commission. By stacking oversized blocks at irregular angles, he created shifting refractions that emphasized the bubbles, distortions, and imperfections within the material. The glass was tinted green to echo the windows of the Inland Steel Building, where the installation stood in dialogue with Richard Lippold’s suspended sculpture Radiant I (1956).
The result was unlike most of Gehry’s collectible design work, which has typically centered on his corrugated cardboard furniture or whimsical Fish Lamps. The sale eclipses the previous auction record for one of his design objects, set when a Fish Lamp sold for $239,400 at Phillips New York in 2021. Gehry’s overall auction record remains the Winton Guest House (1987), which sold for $905,000 in 2015.
