17 Facts About Cesar Pelli

Cesar Pelli was an Argentine-American architect who designed some of the world's tallest buildings and other major urban landmarks.

Cesar Pelli's father was a civil servant, who had been reduced to doing odd jobs due to the Depression, while his mother worked as a teacher.

Cesar Pelli graduated in 1949, after which he designed low-cost housing projects.

Cesar Pelli married acclaimed landscape architect Diana Balmori, who worked as a partner at his company.

In 1952, Cesar Pelli moved to the United States with his wife, Diana Balmori, and became a naturalized citizen in 1964.

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In 1968 Cesar Pelli became partner for design at Gruen Associates in Los Angeles.

In 1969, Cesar Pelli designed the COMSAT research and development laboratories in Clarksburg, Maryland.

Cesar 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".

In 1977, Cesar Pelli was selected to be the dean of the Yale School of Architecture in New Haven, Connecticut, and served in that post until 1984.

Cesar Pelli was named one of the ten most influential living American Architects by the American Institute of Architects in 1991.

In May 2004, Cesar Pelli was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the University of Minnesota Duluth where he designed Weber Music Hall.

In 2005, Cesar Pelli was honored with the Connecticut Architecture Foundation's Distinguished Leadership Award.

That year, Pelli received the Aga Khan Award for Architecture for the design of the Petronas Towers 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.

Cesar Pelli designed the master plan for Cira Centre South, near the University of Pennsylvania which was completed in 2014.

In 2012, the three-building Pacific Design Center, which Cesar Pelli designed 40 years earlier while at Gruen Associates, was completed with the addition of the Red Building.

In May 2008, Cesar Pelli was given an honorary Doctor of Arts degree by Yale University.

In 2012, Cesar Pelli was honored with the platinum Konex Award for architecture and the diamond Konex Award for visual arts.