Frank Gehry-Designed Icehenge Desk up for Auction in Chicago

A green-tinted glass desk, designed by late architect Frank Gehry and nicknamed “Icehenge,” is up for auction.

Gehry designed the 7-ton desk for the Inland Steel Building at 30 West Monroe Street in Downtown Chicago. Additionally, Gehry had a small ownership stake in the building from 2005-2007, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Gehry died in 2025 after an illustrious international architectural career.

An online auction entry estimates that the desk will go for $100,000 to $200,000. The starting bid is $50,000. Freeman Auctioneers Chicago office will preside over the auction.

The entire desk comes in 16 pieces, bookended with two mirrored cabinets. It was carved by Gehry from six-foot blocks of emerald glass, and is specifically envisioned as what might happen if there was an explosion at a glass factory. Icehenge’s tallest column is about six feet tall, according to the auction listing. The winner of the auction is responsible for packaging and transport within a week of winning.

Gehry was one of the world’s top architects, noted for his staunch defiance at being looped into an architectural category and use of unusual materials and eclectic designs. His work inspired revitalizations in neighborhoods in both the United States and abroad; the “Bilbao effect” was coined after his design for the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain helped reinvigorate the local economy. A similar effect at a more local scale was felt after Gehry’s Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles was built.

In Chicago, Gehry primarily made his mark in Millenium Park. He designed the outdoor concert venue dubbed the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, as well as the curving, scenic BP Pedestrian Bridge over Columbus Drive. The gleaming steel bridge’s shape and material also serves as a noise pollution repellant for pedestrians.

Other notable Gehry designs include his own home in Santa Monica, California; the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle; the Lou Ruvo Center in Las Vegas and the Dancing House in Prague.

— Hunter Cooke