Fondation Louis Vuitton

Twelve massive glass sails billow above the trees of the Bois de Boulogne, held in place by a complex web of steel and wood beams. Architect Frank Gehry designed this structure to mimic the glass boats of the late nineteenth century. Bernard Arnault, the head of LVMH, commissioned the building to house a private art collection. During the construction, engineers had to develop custom software just to calculate the thousands of unique glass panels needed to achieve these jagged, wind-swept curves.