The year 1912 in architecture involved some significant architectural events and new buildings.
Events
*
Clough Williams-Ellis
Sir Bertram Clough Williams-Ellis, CBE, MC (28 May 1883 – 9 April 1978) was a Welsh architect known chiefly as the creator of the Italianate village of Portmeirion in North Wales. He became a major figure in the development of Welsh architec ...
receives his first major architectural commission, for the remodelling of
Llangoed Hall in Wales.
Buildings and structures
Buildings opened

*
Electric Tower
__NOTOC__
Electric Tower (or General Electric Tower) is a historic office building and skyscraper located at the corner of Washington and Genesee Streets in Buffalo. It is the seventh tallest building in Buffalo. It stands and 14 stories tall ...
, in
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...
, designed by
Esenwein & Johnson
Esenwein & Johnnson was an architectural firm of Buffalo, New York.
Firm history
It was a partnership of German-born August Esenwein (1856-1926) and James A. Johnson (1865-1939). The partnership was started in 1898; the firm designed "many of Bu ...
*
April 19
Events Pre-1600
*AD 65 – The freedman Milichus betrays Piso's plot to kill the Emperor Nero and all the conspirators are arrested.
* 531 – Battle of Callinicum: A Byzantine army under Belisarius is defeated by the Persians ...
– Bridges in
Constantine, Algeria
Constantine ( ar, قسنطينة '), also spelled Qacentina or Kasantina, is the capital of Constantine Province in northeastern Algeria. During Roman times it was called Cirta and was renamed "Constantina" in honor of emperor Constantine the Gre ...
:
**
Sidi M'Cid Bridge, designed by
Ferdinand Arnodin
Ferdinand Joseph Arnodin (9 October 1845 – 24 April 1924) was a French engineer and industrialist born in Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon, Rhône who died in Châteauneuf-sur-Loire in Loiret. Specialising in cableway transporters, he is regarded as the in ...
.
**
Sidi Rached Bridge, designed by
Paul Séjourné
Paul Séjourné (21 December 1851; Orléans – 19 January 1939; Paris) was a French engineer who specialized in the construction of large bridges from masonry, a domain in which he made some important innovations.
Biography
Paul Séjourné grad ...
.
*
April 25
Events Pre-1600
*404 BC – Admiral Lysander and King Pausanias of Sparta blockade Athens and bring the Peloponnesian War to a successful conclusion.
* 775 – The Battle of Bagrevand puts an end to an Armenian rebellion against t ...
– Rebuilt
St Mark's Campanile
St Mark's Campanile ( it, Campanile di San Marco, ) is the bell tower of St Mark's Basilica in Venice, Italy. The current campanile is a reconstruction completed in 1912, the previous tower having collapsed in 1902. At in height, it is the talle ...
in Venice inaugurated.
* May –
Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts
The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (russian: Музей изобразительных искусств имени А. С. Пушкина, abbreviated as ) is the largest museum of European art in Moscow, located in Volkhonka street, just opp ...
opens in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...
.
* June –
Government Conference Centre
The Senate of Canada Building (french: édifice du Sénat du Canada) is located at 2 Rideau Street in downtown Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and serves as the temporary seat of the Senate of Canada. The building served as Ottawa's central railway stati ...
, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (opened by the Grand Trunk Railway as Ottawa's railway station)
*
October 12 –
Quarr Abbey
Quarr Abbey (French: ''Abbaye Notre-Dame de Quarr'') is a monastery between the villages of Binstead and Fishbourne on the Isle of Wight in southern England. The name is pronounced as "Kwor" (rhyming with "for"). It belongs to the Cathol ...
on the
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...
(England), designed by Dom
Paul Bellot
Paul Louis Denis Bellot (7 June 1876 in Paris – 5 July 1944 in Montreal) was a French monk and modern architect.
Biography
He became an architect in 1900 having studied at the École des Beaux-Arts. In 1902 he became a monk of the Benedic ...
, consecrated.
*
December 26
Events Pre-1600
* 887 – Berengar I is elected as king of Italy by the lords of Lombardy. He is crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy at Pavia.
*1481 – Battle of Westbroek: An army of 4,000 to 5,000 soldiers raised by David of B ...
– Opening of:
**
Manchester Opera House
The Opera House in Quay Street, Manchester, England, is a 1,920-seater commercial touring theatre that plays host to touring musicals, ballet, concerts and a Christmas pantomime. It is a Grade II listed building. The Opera House is one of the m ...
, in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
, as the New Theatre, designed by Richardson & Gill with Farquarson.
**
St. James Theatre, Wellington
The St. James Theatre (previously known as His Majesty's Theatre, and the Westpac St. James Theatre from 1997 to 2007, usually referred to simply as "The St. James") is a stage theatre located in the heart of New Zealand's capital city, Wellingto ...
, New Zealand, designed by Henry Eli White.
Buildings completed

*
Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Sofia
St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral ( bg, Храм-паметник "Свети Александър Невски", ''Hram-pametnik "Sveti Aleksandar Nevski"'') is a Bulgarian Orthodox cathedral in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. Built in Neo-Byzan ...
, Bulgaria.
*
Mysore Palace
The Mysore Palace, also known as Amba Vilas Palace, is a historical palace and a royal residence (house). It is located in Mysore, Karnataka. It used to be the official residence of the Wadiyar dynasty and the seat of the Kingdom of Mysore. Th ...
, India, designed by
Henry Irwin
Henry Irwin (24 January 1841 – 5 August 1922) was an architect of British India. He is mainly known for his works in Indo-Saracenic style of architecture. He was a member of the Institution of Engineers. He was awarded a CIE in the 1888 B ...
.
*
El Centro Español de Tampa ''For the similarly named building in West Tampa see El Centro Español of West Tampa''
El Centro Español de Tampa is a historic building in the Ybor City neighborhood of Tampa, in the U.S. state of Florida. Built as an ethnic and cultural clubh ...
, Florida, USA.
*
Mawson's Huts
Mawson's Huts are the collection of buildings located at Cape Denison, Commonwealth Bay, in the far eastern sector of the Australian Antarctic Territory, some 3000 km south of Hobart. The buildings were erected and occupied by the Austral ...
, Cape Denison, Commonwealth Bay, Australian Antarctic Territory
*
Šaloun's Villa in
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
, designed by and for sculptor
Ladislav Šaloun
Ladislav Jan Šaloun (1 August 1870, Prague – 18 October 1946, Prague) was a prominent Czech sculptor of the Art Nouveau period.
Life
Šaloun was born in 1870 in Prague and he studied in the studios of Tomáš Seidan and Bohuslav Schnirch.< ...
.
*
The Salutation, Sandwich
The Salutation is a grade I listed house in Sandwich, Kent, England. It was designed and built by Edwin Lutyens in a Queen Anne style in 1911–12, as a weekend home and country retreat for members of the Farrer family. It was one of the ...
, Kent, England, designed by
Edwin Lutyens with garden by
Gertrude Jekyll
Gertrude Jekyll ( ; 29 November 1843 – 8 December 1932) was a British horticulturist, garden designer, craftswoman, photographer, writer and artist. She created over 400 gardens in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States, and wrote ...
.
*
Sons of Norway Hall, Petersburg, Alaska, USA.
*
Glamorgan County Hall,
Cardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...
, Wales, designed by
Vincent Harris and T. A. Moodie.
*
Chengyang Bridge
The Yongji Bridge of Chengyang (), also called the Chengyang Wind and Rain Bridge (), is a bridge in Sanjiang County, of Guangxi, China.
Chengyang Bridge is a special covered bridge or ''lángqiáo'', and one of several ''Fengyu'' bridges in th ...
, China.
*
Jackson Tower
Jackson Tower, formerly The Oregon Journal Building is a 12-story, glazed terra-cotta historic office building in downtown Portland, Oregon. Located on the corner of Broadway and Yamhill Streets adjacent to Pioneer Courthouse Square.
History ...
in
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populou ...
*
The Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel
The Fairmont Copley Plaza is a Forbes four-star, AAA four-diamond hotel in downtown Boston, Massachusetts managed by Fairmont Hotels and Resorts. It stands on Copley Square, part of an architectural ensemble that includes the John Hancock Tower, ...
in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...
, Massachusetts
*
Sun Tower
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radia ...
in
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...
,
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...
, Canada
*
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA; french: Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, MBAM) is an art museum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest art museum in Canada by gallery space. The museum is located on the historic Golden Squ ...
in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...
,
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...
, Canada
*
Ritz-Carlton Montreal
The Ritz-Carlton Montreal is a luxury hotel located at 1228 Sherbrooke Street West, on the corner of Drummond Street, in Montreal, Quebec. Opened in 1912, it was the first Ritz-Carlton hotel in North America. Its name was originally licensed by C ...
in Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Awards
*
Olympic gold medal
Olympic or Olympics may refer to
Sports
Competitions
* Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896
** Summer Olympic Games
** Winter Olympic Games
* Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece be ...
–
Eugène Monod
Eugène-Édouard Monod (16 June 1871 – 9 November 1929) was a Swiss architect.
In 1912 he won a gold medal together with Alphonse Laverrière in the art competitions of the Olympic Games. They created a "Building plan of a modern stadium". ...
&
Alphone Laverrière of
Switzerland for ''Building plan of a modern stadium''.
*
RIBA
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...
Royal Gold Medal
The Royal Gold Medal for architecture is awarded annually by the Royal Institute of British Architects on behalf of the British monarch, in recognition of an individual's or group's substantial contribution to international architecture. It is gi ...
–
Basil Champneys
Basil Champneys (17 September 1842 – 5 April 1935) was an English architect and author whose most notable buildings include Manchester's John Rylands Library, Somerville College Library (Oxford), Newnham College, Cambridge, Lady Margaret Hal ...
.
*
Grand Prix de Rome
The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...
, architecture:
Jacques Debat-Ponsan.
Births

*
January 9 –
Ralph Tubbs
Ralph Tubbs OBE FRIBA (9 January 1912 – 23 November 1996) was a British architect. Well known amongst the buildings he designed was the Dome of Discovery at the successful Festival of Britain on the South Bank in London in 1951.
Ralph was educ ...
, British architect associated with the
Festival of Britain
The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition and fair that reached millions of visitors throughout the United Kingdom in the summer of 1951. Historian Kenneth O. Morgan says the Festival was a "triumphant success" during which people:
...
(died
1996
File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone on b ...
)
*
January 30
Events Pre-1600
*1018 – Poland and the Holy Roman Empire conclude the Peace of Bautzen.
*1287 – King Wareru founds the Hanthawaddy Kingdom, and proclaims independence from the Pagan Kingdom.
1601–1900
*1607 – An estimated ...
–
Finn Juhl
Finn Juhl (30 January 1912 – 17 May 1989) was a Danish architect, interior and industrial designer, most known for his furniture design. He was one of the leading figures in the creation of Danish design in the 1940s and he was the designer ...
, Danish architect, interior and industrial designer (died
1989
File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker ru ...
)
*
February 21
Events Pre-1600
*452 or 453 – Severianus, Bishop of Scythopolis, is martyred in Palestine.
*1245 – Thomas, the first known Bishop of Finland, is granted resignation after confessing to torture and forgery.
* 1440 – The ...
–
Henry Bernard, French architect, designer of the
Palace of Europe
The Palace of Europe (french: Palais de l'Europe) is a building located in Strasbourg, France, that has served as the seat of the Council of Europe since 1977 when it replaced the "House of Europe". Between 1977 and 1999 it was also the Strasbour ...
(died
1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson Ma ...
)
*
March 12
Events Pre-1600
* 538 – Vitiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving the city to the victorious Byzantine general, Belisarius.
*1088 – Election of Urban II as the 159th Pope of the C ...
–
Gordon Tait, British architect (died
1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...
)
*
June 11
Events Pre-1600
* 173 – Marcomannic Wars: The Roman army in Moravia is encircled by the Quadi, who have broken the peace treaty ( 171). In a violent thunderstorm emperor Marcus Aurelius defeats and subdues them in the so-called "miracle ...
–
Rosemary Stjernstedt
Rosemary Stjernstedt (11 June 1912 – 31 October 1998) was an English architect and town planner. She began her career designing furniture in London and then worked on production drawings for the Barber Institute of Fine Arts in Birmingham. Aft ...
, British architect (died
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...
)
*
December 1
Events Pre-1600
* 800 – A council is convened in the Vatican, at which Charlemagne is to judge the accusations against Pope Leo III.
*1420 – Henry V of England enters Paris alongside his father-in-law King Charles VI of France.
...
–
Minoru Yamasaki
was an American architect, best known for designing the original World Trade Center in New York City and several other large-scale projects. Yamasaki was one of the most prominent architects of the 20th century. He and fellow architect Edward ...
, American
World Trade Center
World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association.
World Trade Center may refer to:
Buildings
* List of World Trade Centers
* World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...
architect (died
1986
The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
**Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles.
**Spain and Portugal enter ...
)
*
December 15
Events Pre-1600
* 533 – Vandalic War: Byzantine general Belisarius defeats the Vandals, commanded by King Gelimer, at the Battle of Tricamarum.
* 687 – Pope Sergius I is elected as a compromise between antipopes Paschal and Theod ...
–
Ray Eames
Ray-Bernice Alexandra Kaiser Eames (née Kaiser; December 15, 1912 – August 21, 1988) was an American artist and designer who worked in a variety of media.
In creative partnership with her husband Charles Eames and The Eames Office, she was ...
, American designer, 2nd wife of Charles Eames (died
1988)
Deaths
*
February 8
Events Pre-1600
* 421 – Constantius III becomes co-Emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
*1238 – The Mongols burn the Russian city of Vladimir.
*1250 – Seventh Crusade: Crusaders engage Ayyubid forces in the Battle of Al ...
–
Constant-Désiré Despradelle
Constant-Désiré Despradelle (May 20, 1862 – February 8, 1912) was a French-born architect and professor of architecture at Massachusetts Institute of Technology who, through his teaching, influenced a generation of Beaux-Arts style archit ...
, French architect and professor of architecture (born
1862
Events
January–March
* January 1 – The United Kingdom annexes Lagos Island, in modern-day Nigeria.
* January 6 – French intervention in Mexico: French, Spanish and British forces arrive in Veracruz, Mexico.
* January ...
)
*
June 1
Events Pre-1600
*1215 – Zhongdu (now Beijing), then under the control of the Jurchen ruler Emperor Xuanzong of Jin, is captured by the Mongols under Genghis Khan, ending the Battle of Zhongdu.
*1252 – Alfonso X is proclaimed king o ...
–
Daniel Burnham
Daniel Hudson Burnham (September 4, 1846 – June 1, 1912) was an American architect and urban designer. A proponent of the '' Beaux-Arts'' movement, he may have been, "the most successful power broker the American architectural profession has ...
, American architect and urban planner (born
1846
Events
January–March
* January 5 – The United States House of Representatives votes to stop sharing the Oregon Country with the United Kingdom.
* January 13 – The Milan–Venice railway's bridge, over the Venetian Lagoon between ...
)
*
June 27
Events Pre-1600
* 1358 – The Republic of Ragusa is founded.
*1497 – Cornish rebels Michael An Gof and Thomas Flamank are executed at Tyburn, London, England.
*1499 – Americo Vespucci, on Spanish financed trip, sights coast ...
–
Frank Furness
Frank Heyling Furness (November 12, 1839 - June 27, 1912) was an American architect of the Victorian era. He designed more than 600 buildings, most in the Philadelphia area, and is remembered for his diverse, muscular, often unordinarily scaled ...
, Philadelphia-based American architect (born
1839
Events
January–March
* January 2 – The first photograph of the Moon is taken, by French photographer Louis Daguerre.
* January 6 – Night of the Big Wind: Ireland is struck by the most damaging cyclone in 300 years.
* January 9 � ...
)
*
November 17
Events Pre-1600
* 887 – Emperor Charles the Fat is deposed by the Frankish magnates in an assembly at Frankfurt, leading his nephew, Arnulf of Carinthia, to declare himself king of the East Frankish Kingdom in late November.
* 1183 &n ...
–
Richard Norman Shaw
Richard Norman Shaw RA (7 May 1831 – 17 November 1912), also known as Norman Shaw, was a British architect who worked from the 1870s to the 1900s, known for his country houses and for commercial buildings. He is considered to be among the g ...
, British architect (born
1831
Events
January–March
* January 1 – William Lloyd Garrison begins publishing '' The Liberator'', an anti-slavery newspaper, in Boston, Massachusetts.
* January 10 – Japanese department store, Takashimaya in Kyoto esta ...
)
References
{{reflist