“I’m up for it” was the response of arguably the most famous architect in the world to our hesitant inquiry. “This will be my dream project,” he said.

With the announcement of Frank Gehry’s death at age 96, it seems almost unreal to recall his fleeting presence in our city. But his legacy is with us in brick, glass and steel in the visible form of the UTS Business School at the University of Technology Sydney, more popularly known as “the paper bag building”.

I had just been appointed dean in 2009, doing what most deans do at the start of their term – engaging with staff, students and partners on a new vision and strategy for a very practical mainstream faculty of business. We were assisted in this by a design thinking group, Second Road.

Architect Frank Gehry with the models of the Dr Chau Chak Wing building he designed for UTS, during a press conference in Sydney in December 2010.Credit: Kate Geraghty

We wanted to be ahead of the game, preparing students not just for existing jobs but for the jobs and opportunities of the future. In addition to specialised discipline knowledge, these would require “boundary-crossing” skills of creative and analytical problem-solving and entrepreneurial thinking.

As the faculty had outgrown its accommodation, we secured the support........

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