Gehry rose to international prominence with the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, the 1997 project often credited with triggering the so-called "Bilbao effect" that can lift a city’s cultural profile. He won the Pritzker Prize in 1989 and later completed other signature works, including the Walt Disney Concert Hall.

He may not have lived to see his $1 billion-plus vision to upgrade the Los Angeles River come to fruition, but architect Frank Gehry was able to shepherd through a transformational plan that is slated to reimagine one of the West Coast’s most underused natural features.

Architects are uniquely positioned to help people displaced by natural disasters. This personal reflection is part of a series called Turning Points, in which writers explore what critical moments from this year might mean for the year ahead. You can read more by visiting the Turning Points series page.