César Pelli has passed away

2019-07-19T23:57:00-04:00

Argentina’s Telam state news agency reported his passing on Friday, as did the governor of Tucuman province, where Pelli grew up and spent his formative years. “With much regret we receive the sad news of the death of the great Architect César Pelli,” the region’s governor, Juan Manzur, said in a post on Twitter. “I want to convey my condolences to his whole family, his friends and his team.”

César Pelli, a prolific and relentlessly inventive architect who has shaped the skylines of major cities from Los Angeles to San Francisco, New York City, and Kuala Lumpur, has passed away at age 92.

News of Pelli’s death came from Argentina’s state news service Friday afternoon, according to Reuters.

The Petronas vs. Sears Tower controversy revisited

2019-05-03T14:43:00-04:00

The decision – that the Petronas Towers were indeed the world’s new tallest building(s), measuring 451.9 meters to the tops of their decorative spires – was based on the re-affirmation of a standard the Council had held for some 60 years. The antennae atop Sears Tower, which took it to an ultimate height of 527 meters, did not count toward its “architectural” height, because the antennae were not considered a permanent part of the building. [...] It was not a popular decision in Chicago [...]

Remember when the Southeast Asian nation of Malaysia laid claim to the title of "World’s Tallest Building" in 1996; daring to challenge Sears Tower's crown which had been the incumbent record holder since 1974? The Council for Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, the organization responsible for keeping track of proper building heights, back then determined in a historic announcement that Kuala Lumpur's brand new twin Petronas Towers measured 451.9 meters/1,483 feet from sidewalk to the top of their spires and were indeed the world's new reigning champions.

The CTBUH's decision was not well received in Chicago, to say the least, and a heated debate errupted whether Sears Tower's antennae should have been included in the building height determination to keep the 110-story behemoth at the top and the largely unrivaled sense of American exceptionalism intact. (The champion title has never returned to the United States since then, and Sears Tower, now Willis Tower, is currently ranked at ...

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César Pelli has passed away

The Petronas vs. Sears Tower controversy revisited