The year 1878 in architecture involved some significant events.
Buildings and structures
Buildings

* Work begins on the
Herrenchiemsee in
Bavaria, designed by
Georg Dollman
Georg may refer to:
* ''Georg'' (film), 1997
* Georg (musical), Estonian musical
* Georg (given name)
* Georg (surname)
* , a Kriegsmarine coastal tanker
See also
* George (disambiguation)
George may refer to:
People
* George (given name)
* ...
.
* The
Semperoper in
Dresden, designed by
Gottfried Semper
Gottfried Semper (; 29 November 1803 – 15 May 1879) was a German architect, art critic, and professor of architecture who designed and built the Semper Opera House in Dresden between 1838 and 1841. In 1849 he took part in the May Uprising in ...
, is completed.
*
The Tower House
The Tower House, 29 Melbury Road, is a late-Victorian townhouse in the Holland Park district of Kensington and Chelsea, London, built by the architect and designer William Burges as his home. Designed between 1875 and 1881, in the French Go ...
,
Kensington
Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London.
The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...
, designed by
William Burges for himself, is completed.
* The White House and No. 1
Tite Street,
Chelsea, London, designed by
Edward William Godwin, are completed.
* The
Michigan State Capitol
The Michigan State Capitol is the building that houses the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is in the portion of the state capital of Lansing which lies in Ingham County. The present structure, at the interse ...
in
Lansing, Michigan
Lansing () is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is mostly in Ingham County, although portions of the city extend west into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. The 2020 census placed the city's population at 112,644, making ...
is completed.
* Construction begins on the
Indiana Statehouse Indianapolis, Indiana
*
Rajabai Clock Tower in
South Mumbai,
India is opened.
Awards
*
RIBA Royal Gold Medal –
Alfred Waterhouse
Alfred Waterhouse (19 July 1830 – 22 August 1905) was an English architect, particularly associated with the Victorian Gothic Revival architecture, although he designed using other architectural styles as well. He is perhaps best known f ...
.
*
Grand Prix de Rome, architecture:
Victor Laloux.
Developments
*
Thaddeus Hyatt introduces a patent for
reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete (RC), also called reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having hig ...
to the United States.
Births
* May 3 –
Ralph Knott, English architect (died
1929
This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...
)
* May 21 –
Arthur Joseph Davis, English
Beaux-Arts architect and interior designer (died
1951
Events
January
* January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950).
* January 9 – The Government of the United ...
)
* June 24 –
James Chapman-Taylor, New Zealand
Arts and Crafts
A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...
domestic architect (died
1958
Events
January
* January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being.
* January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed.
* January 4
** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...
)
* September 29 –
Mārtiņš Nukša
Mārtiņš Nukša (29 September 1878 – 17 May 1942) was a Latvian people, Latvian diplomat and architect. He worked as an architect in Riga during the Art Nouveau architecture in Riga, heyday of Art Nouveau architecture and from 1920 as a diplom ...
, Latvian architect and diplomat (executed
1942
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January 1 – WWII: The Declaration by United Nations is signed by China, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and 22 other nations, in wh ...
)
* Violet Morris, English architect (died 1958)
Deaths
* March 27 – Sir
George Gilbert Scott
Sir George Gilbert Scott (13 July 1811 – 27 March 1878), known as Sir Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic Revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he started ...
, English
Gothic revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
architect (born
1811
Events
January–March
* January 8 – An unsuccessful slave revolt is led by Charles Deslondes, in St. Charles and St. James Parishes, Louisiana.
* January 17 – Mexican War of Independence – Battle of Calderón Brid ...
)
References
{{reflist
Architecture
Years in architecture
19th-century architecture