Frank O. Gehry, the innovative master architect and prolific designer whose organically shaped, steel-covered Walt Disney Concert Hall transformed the landscape of downtown Los Angeles, died at his Santa Monica home Friday at age 96.

His death followed a brief respiratory illness, Gehry Partners chief of staff Meaghan Lloyd said.

Gehry, who won the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1989, is considered the most recognizable American architect since Frank Lloyd Wright. Among the first architects to embrace the potential of computer design, he pioneered an adventurous style frequently incorporating unexpected raw materials.

Along with Disney Hall, his most famous works include the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, a titanium-clad building that received international acclaim on its open

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