Argentine-born architect César Pelli passes away at the age of 92.
By Keldine Hull
Argentine-born and well- respected architect César Pelli passed away on July 19 at the age of 92. Pelli was the architect behind celebrated landmarks throughout the world, including the Petronas Tower in Malaysia, once the tallest structure in the world, and additions to New York’s Museum of Modern Art.
Pelli also had ties to California. He designed the Pacific Design Center, which debuted in 1975 with Center Blue, followed by Center Green in 1988 and Center Red in 2011. According to the Los Angeles Conservancy (LAC), “Love it or hate it, the Pacific Design Center has become an icon of glass skin design and construction and a landmark of undeniable impact.”
Pelli also designed the Salesforce Tower in San Francisco, which opened early last year with over 60 floors, and the Century City Medical Plaza, completed in 1969 with fellow architect Anthony Lumsden of Daniel Mann Johnson and Mendenhall (DMJM). According to the LAC, “Pelli and Lumsden’s glass skin system was architecturally elegant, but it was also economical, since it allowed for standardized glazing units and decreased the need for other expensive building materials.” LAC continued, “As the first glass skin design to be completed, the Medical Plaza is as innovative as well as visually stunning.”
Considered one of the most influential architects of his time, Pelli wrote in an essay published in 1988, “There is nothing quite so pleasurable for me as to visit my buildings when they are finished and occupied. It is like being part of a miracle taking place. Months and even years of caring and dreaming become a reality.”
