Pelli was born October 12, 1926, in San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina.[7] His grandfather was an immigrant from Italy, while his mother's family was criollo. His father was a civil servant, who had been reduced to doing odd jobs due to the Depression, while his mother worked as a teacher.[8] Pelli studied architecture at the Universidad Nacional de Tucumán.[9][10] He graduated in 1949, after which he designed low-cost housing projects.[11] In 1952, he attended the University of Illinois School of Architecture in the United States for advanced study in architecture, and received his Master of Science in Architecture degree in 1954.[12][13]
He married acclaimed landscape architect Diana Balmori, who worked as a partner at his company. They had two children: Denis, a neurobiologist and Professor of Psychology and Neural Science at New York University and Rafael Pelli, like his father also a well-known architect. The couple resided in an apartment in The San Remo on Manhattan's Upper West Side.
Career
Early years
Pacific Design Center- Center Red 2013, César PelliPacific Design Center- Center Green 1988, César PelliPacific Design Center- Center Blue 1975, César Pelli
In 1964, he became director of design at Daniel, Mann, Johnson and Mendenhall in Los Angeles.[21] In 1965, Pelli designed the Sunset Mountain Park Urban Nucleus (an unbuilt project).[22] In 1968 Pelli became partner for design at Gruen Associates in Los Angeles.[23] In 1969, Pelli designed the COMSAT research and development laboratories in Clarksburg, Maryland.[24][25] Pelli designed his first landmark building with the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, California, which was completed 1975 and became known by the locals as the "Blue Whale". The United States Embassy in Tokyo, Japan, was designed by Pelli in 1972 and completed in 1975.[26] While practicing in Los Angeles, Pelli taught in the architecture program at UCLA.[27]
1977–1989
In 1977, Pelli was selected to be the dean of the Yale School of Architecture in New Haven, Connecticut, and served in that post until 1984.[28] Shortly after Pelli arrived at Yale, he won the commission to design the expansion and renovation of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, which resulted in the establishment of his own firm, Cesar Pelli & Associates.[29][30][31] The museum's expansion/renovation and the Museum of Modern Art Residential Tower were completed 1984; the World Financial Center in New York, which includes the grand public space of the Winter Garden, was completed in 1988.[32] Among other significant projects during this period are the Crile Clinic Building in Cleveland, Ohio, completed 1984; Herring Hall at Rice University in Houston, Texas (also completed 1984); completion in 1988 of the Green Building at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, California; completion of the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1989; and the construction of the Wells Fargo Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1989.[33]
Pelli was named one of the ten most influential living American Architects by the American Institute of Architects in 1991. In 1990, He completed the Carnegie Hall Tower. In 1995, he was awarded the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal.[34][35] In May 2004, Pelli was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the University of Minnesota Duluth where he designed Weber Music Hall.[36] In 2005, Pelli was honored with the Connecticut Architecture Foundation's Distinguished Leadership Award.[37]
Buildings designed by Pelli during this period are marked by further experimentation with a variety of materials (most prominently stainless steel) and his evolution of the skyscraper. One Canada Square at Canary Wharf in London (opened in 1991); Plaza Tower in Costa Mesa, California (completed 1991); and the NTT Headquarters in Tokyo (finished 1995) were preludes to a landmark project that Pelli designed for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[38] The Petronas Towers were completed in 1997, sheathed in stainless steel and reflecting Islamic design motifs.[39] The dual towers were the world's tallest buildings until 2004.[40] That year, Pelli received the Aga Khan Award for Architecture for the design of the Petronas Towers[41] Pelli's design for the National Museum of Art in Osaka, Japan, was completed 2005, the same year that Pelli's firm changed its name to Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects to reflect the growing roles of senior principals Fred W. Clarke and Pelli's son Rafael.[42]
The Cira Centre on the Schuylkill River, designed by Pelli, opened in January 2006. Pelli also designed the master plan for Cira Centre South, near the University of Pennsylvania which was completed in 2014. He was also architect of the 730-foot luxury mixed-use skyscraper FMC Tower as part of the Cira Centre South development.[43]
This period saw the completion of several cultural/civic projects designed by Pelli. The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, Florida, opened in 2006, the same year that Pelli's design for the Minneapolis Central Library completed construction, as well as the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall and Samueli Theater in Costa Mesa, California.[44] Pelli designs for office towers and developments throughout Asia and South America have been completed in the past decade.[45] In 2012, the three-building Pacific Design Center, which Pelli designed 40 years earlier while at Gruen Associates, was completed with the addition of the Red Building.[46]
Pelli died at the age of 92[54] at his home in New Haven, Connecticut. No cause was given.[55]Malaysian Prime MinisterMahathir Mohamad, whose tenure witnessed the designing and construction of the Twin Towers, praised him as a "great architect"[56] while expressing his condolences to Pelli's surviving family members.[57] Pelli's Azabudai Hills in Tokyo, Japan, was completed on June 30, 2023, making it the tallest building in Japan at the time of completion.[58]
^"Cesar Pelli: Connections". National Building Museum. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
^"Cesar Pelli gives convocation address at University of Illinois". Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects. May 17, 2014. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
^Charles E. Gagit, Jr. (June 1, 2015). The Groundbreakers: Architects in American History Their Places and Times. Transaction Publishers.
^Paola Singer (May 10, 2016). "César Pelli and His Nonchalant Architecture". Surface Magazine. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
^"Master of the Schuylkill – Architect César Pelli". Patriot Harbor Lines. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
^Charles E. Gagit, Jr. (June 1, 2015). The Groundbreakers: Architects in American History Their Places and Times. Transaction Publishers.
^Nicholas Von Hoffman (February 28, 2005). "Cesar Pelli Architecture and Design". Architectural Digest. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
^Paola Singer (May 10, 2016). "César Pelli and His Nonchalant Architecture". Surface Magazine. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
^Interview with Cesar Pelli by Michael J. Crosbie, New Haven, CT, March 8, 2016.
^Nicholas Von Hoffman (February 28, 2005). "Cesar Pelli Architecture and Design". Architectural Digest. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
^"Cesar Pelli: Connections". National Building Museum. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
^Interview with Cesar Pelli by Michael J. Crosbie, New Haven, CT, March 8, 2016.
^"Early Cesar Pelli Building Threatened with Demolition". Preservation Online. National Trust. June 21, 2005. Archived from the original on May 3, 2006.
^Michael J. Crosbie. "Introduction: A Conversation with Cesar Pelli." Cesar Pelli: Selected and Current Works. Mulgrave: Images Publishing Group, 1993.
^Interview with Cesar Pelli by Michael J. Crosbie, New Haven, CT, March 8, 2016.
^Charles E. Gagit, Jr. (June 1, 2015). The Groundbreakers: Architects in American History Their Places and Times. Transaction Publishers.
^Nicholas Von Hoffman (February 28, 2005). "Cesar Pelli Architecture and Design". Architectural Digest. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
^Charles E. Gagit, Jr. (June 1, 2015). The Groundbreakers: Architects in American History Their Places and Times. Transaction Publishers.
^Paola Singer (May 10, 2016). "César Pelli and His Nonchalant Architecture". Surface Magazine. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
^"Cesar Pelli: Connections". National Building Museum. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
^Michael J. Crosbie. "Introduction: A Conversation with Cesar Pelli." Cesar Pelli: Selected and Current Works. Mulgrave: Images Publishing Group, 1993.
^"Master of the Schuylkill – Architect César Pelli". Patriot Harbor Lines. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
^"UMD to honor Weber Music Hall architect at commencement May 13". Budgeteer News. April 30, 2004. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
^Connecticut Architecture Foundation [1]Archived October 9, 2017, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
^Michael J. Crosbie. "Introduction: A Conversation with Cesar Pelli." Cesar Pelli: Selected and Current Works. Mulgrave: Images Publishing Group, 1993.