What metal clads the exterior of the Walt Disney Concert Hall?

The Walt Disney Concert Hall’s exterior is clad primarily in stainless steel.

Designed by Frank Gehry, the Los Angeles concert hall is famous for its sweeping, sail-like metal forms. Its stainless-steel skin helped turn Gehry’s sculptural concept into a buildable façade, with computer-aided design software used to model the complex curves and angles.

The material was not always the plan. Gehry originally envisioned a stone exterior, but the design was revised during fundraising and construction. Most of the stainless steel has a matte finish; selected areas, including parts of the Founders Room and Children’s Amphitheater, originally used highly polished panels.

A common mix-up is Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, whose exterior is clad in titanium rather than stainless steel. The Disney Hall opened in 2003 and is home to the Los Angeles Philharmonic.