Beyond Architectural Illustration: July 2019

César Pelli died July 19 at age 92.

As with I M Pei, the major media obituaries cover his life and work better than I ever could.

However, having worked on many of his projects over the years I thought I’d comment.

My first personal experience with Pelli’s work was the Winter Garden at the World Financial Center in New York City. I did not work on the project but did explore it as an average citizen. It was and is a joy to experience: space, light, people and palms, all in the middle of the big city. On winter weekends I took my kids there to play on the monumental marble steps.

About the same time Pelli needed a rendering quickly of a proposed high-rise in Malaysia. The image was a hit, ending up on the covers of all the southeast Asian magazines. It was an interesting job which I’ve already posted on here. The design is thoroughly modern but had a strong reflection of Malaysian culture. It introduced me to Pelli’s interesting body of work.

And that “work”? It was, speaking as an architect, well thought out and clean. It was also surprisingly various: he never really had a “style”. He seemed to take the DNA of the place the project was to be built in and formed it into a landmark building. Speaking as an architectural illustrator, Pelli’s work was enjoyable. The designs were fun to explore, and he was confident enough to let me try out new ideas. .

Pelli was charming and diplomatic. While Dean of the School of Architecture at Yale he was known for effortlessly smoothing the personal conflicts found in such an institution.

Pelli rejected the idea of celebrity architect. He was gracious and kind every time I met with him.

He was a “good” man: a mench!