Iconic Argentine-American architect César Pelli died at his home in New Haven, Connecticut, on Friday, July 19. He was 92.
After studying architecture at the National University of Tucumán in his native Argentina, he moved to U.S. to complete his master’s degree at the University of Illinois, School of Architecture at Urbana-Champaign. As a student, his work already earned him enough recognition to land an early role under the leadership of Eero Saarinen, the famous Finnish-American architect known for his neo-futuristic style.
His tenure with the firm included working on major projects like the Trans World Airlines Terminal at John F. Kennedy Airport and the Ezra Stiles and Samuel Morse Colleges at the Yale University. Pelli followed up his time with Saaarinen as the design director at the Daniel, Mann, Johnson Mendenhall (DMJM) design firm in Los Angeles, before eventually becoming a design partner at Gruen Associates in 1968. It was during that time when Pelli notably lent his expertise to the design of the Pacific Design Center building in West Hollywood.
Pelli founded Cesar Pelli & Associates in 1977 alongside his wife Diana Balmori, a landscape architect. The firm began work on the renovation and expansion of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, eventually becoming Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects.
Some of the highlights among the architect’s illustrious portfolio include international landmarks like the Petronas Tower in Kuala Lumpur, the Torre de Cristal in Madrid, and the Costanera Center Building in Santiago, Chile. He also went on to serve as dean of the Yale School of Architecture from 1997 to 1984.
Pelli’s design of the Petronas Towers won him the Aga Khan Award in 2005—a decade after he received the Gold Medal from the American Institute of Architects (AIA).
