KL’s Petronas Tower architect Cesar Pelli dies at 92

“It is with great sadness that we announce the loss of our founder, mentor, and great friend, César.” – business partner Fred W. Clarke.

From Malaysia to the US, famed architect Cesar Pelli, known for his innovative skyscrapers and use of coloured glass, has died at the age of 92.

“He was a gifted architect and teacher, two callings he effortlessly combined as one. I am profoundly grateful to my great friend and partner,” said Fred W. Clarke.

Among 300 other awards, Argentine-born architect Cesar Pelli won the Aga Khan Award for Architecture for designing the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur. The Pacific Design Centre in California opened in 1975, but is still viewed as an example of cutting-edge architecture. Pelli also designed New York’s World Financial Centre, now called Brookfield Place.

But much of Pelli’s legacy endures not in his buildings, but in his teachings. He served as dean of Yale University’s School of Architecture in 1977 to 1984 and wrote several books on his approach to architecture.

“He was a warm and gracious man, a civilizing presence in his life and his work, an architect of great dignity and lively creativity who did as much as anyone in the last generation to evolve the form of the skyscraper” – Architecture critics like Paul Goldberger.