Robert Gilbert
Artist. Architect. Visionary.
Robert Gilbert was a rare creative force—a sculptor, builder, designer, sailor, and storyteller whose life defied convention and whose work continues to inspire awe. His career spanned multiple disciplines, but it was unified by a singular vision: to shape beauty from imagination, discipline, and daring.
Gilbert first gained recognition in the early 1960s as a pioneer of kinetic sculpture. A student of Jean Tinguely, the father of kinetic art, Gilbert produced over fifty monumental works—some weighing as much as three tons. By his twenties, his work was represented by prestigious galleries in San Francisco and New York, and featured in museums around the world. In 1970, his artistry reached global audiences through Magic Machines, a documentary he wrote and narrated. The film won the Academy Award for Best Short Subject and the Prix du Court Métrage at Cannes.
He later turned his creative talents toward architectural design and construction. Co-founding the acclaimed firm Gilbert & Chang, he designed and built over 80 custom homes and commercial projects, including for clients such as Bob Dylan, Don Henley, Cheech Marin, Herb Alpert, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The firm eventually grew to include a full-service architecture studio, furniture shop, tile workshop, and landscape division.
Never content to remain on land, Gilbert also built and captained several large wooden sailing vessels, including a faithful replica of the 1874 racing cutter Bloodhound. In 1998, he sailed Bloodhound to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico—an adventurous voyage that would lead to his greatest and most personal creation.
What began as a journey turned into a legacy. Along the unspoiled coastline of Mexico’s Costa Alegre, Gilbert—alongside his wife, actress Valerie Wildman, and his friend and partner James “Kip” Hale—discovered a remote 75-acre site that became the foundation for MARALUZ. Here, Gilbert poured all of his talents into the land, designing and building five handcrafted homes with sacred proportions, timeless materials, and a deep reverence for nature.
Robert Gilbert passed away on October 15, 2015. But his vision lives on—in every tile, arch, path, and palm that graces MARALUZ. This compound stands as his final and most intimate masterpiece—a place where sea and light converge, and where the soul of a true artist remains forever present.
This is Robert Gilbert’s legacy. This is MARALUZ.