The year 1926 in architecture involved some significant architectural events and new buildings.

Events

* c. February – British

General Post Office The General Post Office (GPO) was the state mail, postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969. Before the Acts of Union 1707, it was the postal system of the Kingdom of England, established by Charles II of En ...

red telephone box The red telephone box, a telephone kiosk for a public telephone designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, is a familiar sight on the streets of the United Kingdom, Malta, Bermuda and Gibraltar. Despite a reduction in their numbers in recent years ...

, designed by

Giles Gilbert Scott Sir Giles Gilbert Scott (9 November 1880 – 8 February 1960) was a British architect known for his work on the New Bodleian Library, Cambridge University Library, Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, Battersea Power Station, Liverpool Cathedral, and d ...

, is introduced, chiefly in the London area. * April–May – The German Zehner-Ring group of Modernist architects expands to become

Der Ring Der Ring was an architectural collective founded in 1926 in Berlin. It emerged from expressionist architecture with a functionalist agenda. Der Ring was a group of young architects, formed with the objective of promoting Modernist architecture. ...

. *

June 7 Events Pre-1600 * 421 – Emperor Theodosius II marries Aelia Eudocia at Constantinople (Byzantine Empire). * 879 – Pope John VIII recognizes the Duchy of Croatia under Duke Branimir as an independent state. *1002 – Henry II ...

– While walking along the

Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes Gran may refer to: People *Grandmother, affectionately known as "gran" * Gran (name) Places * Gran, the historical German name for Esztergom, a city and the primatial metropolitan see of Hungary * Gran, Norway, a municipality in Innlandet coun ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ...

Antoni Gaudí Antoni Gaudí i Cornet (; ; 25 June 1852 – 10 June 1926) was a Catalan architect from Spain known as the greatest exponent of Catalan Modernism. Gaudí's works have a highly individualized, '' sui generis'' style. Most are located in Barc ...

is struck by a passing tram and knocked unconscious. Delays in receiving medical treatment contribute to his death in hospital a few days later. On June 12, after a funeral procession through the streets of Barcelona lined by thousands, he is buried in the crypt chapel of his unfinished church of

Sagrada Família The Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família, shortened as the Sagrada Família, is an unfinished church in the Eixample district of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It is the largest unfinished Catholic church in the world. Designed by ...

. *

November 27 Events Pre-1600 * AD 25 – Luoyang is declared capital of the Eastern Han dynasty by Emperor Guangwu of Han. * 176 – Emperor Marcus Aurelius grants his son Commodus the rank of "Imperator" and makes him Supreme Commander of the Rom ...

– In

Williamsburg, Virginia Williamsburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 15,425. Located on the Virginia Peninsula, Williamsburg is in the northern part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. It is b ...

, the restoration of

Colonial Williamsburg Colonial Williamsburg is a living-history museum and private foundation presenting a part of the historic district in the city of Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation has 7300 employees at this location a ...

begins. * Undated ** The

Frankfurt kitchen The Frankfurt kitchen was a milestone in domestic architecture, considered the forerunner of modern fitted kitchens, for it was the first kitchen in history built after a unified concept, i.e. low-cost design that would enable efficient work. It ...

is designed by

Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky Margarete "Grete" Lihotzky (born 23 January 1897 in the Margareten district of Vienna, Austria-Hungary – 18 January 2000) was an Austrian architect and a communist activist in the Austrian resistance to Nazism. She is mostly remembered tod ...

for

Ernst May Ernst May (27 July 1886 – 11 September 1970) was a German architect and city planner. May successfully applied urban design techniques to the city of Frankfurt am Main during the Weimar Republic period, and in 1930 less successfully expor ...

social housing Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, d ...

project

New Frankfurt New Frankfurt (German: ''Neues Frankfurt'') was an affordable public housing program in Frankfurt started in 1925 and completed in 1930. It was also the name of the accompanying magazine that was published from 1926 to 1931 dedicated to interna ...

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

. ** The Russian avant-garde magazine ''SA'' is published for the first time. ** Restoration of the Tudor

Owlpen Manor Owlpen Manor is a Tudor Grade I listed manor house of the Mander family, situated in the village of Owlpen in the Stroud district in Gloucestershire, England. There is an associated estate set in a valley within the Cotswold Area of Outstand ...

in the

Cotswolds The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of Ju ...

of England by

Norman Jewson Norman Jewson (12 February 1884 – 28 August 1975) was an English architect-craftsman of the Arts and Crafts movement, who practised in the Cotswolds. He was a distinguished, younger member of the group which had settled in Sapperton, Glouce ...

is completed.

Buildings and structures

Buildings opened

May 13 Events Pre-1600 *1373 – Julian of Norwich has visions of Jesus while suffering from a life-threatening illness, visions which are later described and interpreted in her book ''Revelations of Divine Love''. * 1501 – Amerigo Vespuc ...

–

Hercilio Luz Bridge The Hercílio Luz Bridge, located in Florianópolis, the capital city of Santa Catarina State in southern Brazil, is the first bridge constructed to link the Island of Santa Catarina to the mainland. It is the longest suspension bridge in Brazi ...

, Florianopolis, Brazil, designed by Robinson & Steinman. *

September 13 Events Pre-1600 *585 BC – Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, king of Rome, celebrates a triumph for his victories over the Sabines, and the surrender of Collatia. * 509 BC – The Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on Rome's Capitoline Hi ...

–

Clapham South Clapham South is a station on London Underground's Northern line between and Balham. The station is located at the corner of Balham Hill ( A24) and Nightingale Lane, at the southern edge of Clapham Common. It is in both Travelcard Zone 2 and ...

Tooting Bec Tooting Bec is in the London Borough of Wandsworth, south London, England. History Tooting Bec appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as "Totinges". It was held partly by St Mary de Bec-Hellouin Abbey and partly by Westminster Abbey. Its domesday ass ...

Tooting Broadway Tooting is a district in South London, forming part of the London Borough of Wandsworth and partly in the London Borough of Merton. It is located south south-west of Charing Cross. History Tooting has been settled since pre-Saxon times. Th ...

Colliers Wood Colliers Wood is an area in south west London, England, in the London Borough of Merton. It is a mostly residential area, but has a busy high street around Colliers Wood tube station on London Underground's Northern line. The high street is par ...

South Wimbledon South Wimbledon is an area of Wimbledon in south-west London in the London Borough of Merton, England. History Toponymy It is marked on an Ordnance Survey map of 1876 as New Wimbledon and on a 1907 map as South Wimbledon. The name is derived fr ...

and

Morden tube station Morden is a London Underground station in Morden in the London Borough of Merton. The station is the southern terminus for the Northern line and is ironically the most southerly station on the Underground network, despite being on the Northe ...

s, London, designed by

Charles Holden Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was ...

(also

Balham Balham () is an area in south London, England, mostly within the London Borough of Wandsworth with small parts within the neighbouring London Borough of Lambeth. The area has been settled since Saxon times and appears in the Domesday Book as ...

, opened December 6). *

November 11 Events Pre-1600 * 308 – At Carnuntum, Emperor ''emeritus'' Diocletian confers with Galerius, ''Augustus'' of the East, and Maximianus, the recently returned former ''Augustus'' of the West, in an attempt to end the civil wars of the T ...

–

Northampton War Memorial Northampton War Memorial, officially the Town and County War Memorial, is a First World War memorial on Wood Hill in the centre of Northampton, the county town of Northamptonshire, in central England. Designed by architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, it ...

, designed by Edwin Lutyens, unveiled in England. *

December 4 Events Pre-1600 * 771 – Austrasian king Carloman I dies, leaving his brother Charlemagne as sole king of the Frankish Kingdom. * 963 – The lay papal protonotary is elected pope and takes the name Leo VIII, being consecrated on 6 ...

–

Bauhaus Dessau building Bauhaus and its Sites in Weimar, Dessau and Bernau is a World Heritage Site in Germany, comprising six separate sites which are associated with the Bauhaus art school. It was designated in 1996 with four initial sites, and in 2017 two further si ...

, designed by

Walter Gropius Walter Adolph Georg Gropius (18 May 1883 – 5 July 1969) was a German-American architect and founder of the Bauhaus School, who, along with Alvar Aalto, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright, is widely regarded as one ...

, opened in

Dessau Dessau is a town and former municipality in Germany at the confluence of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the '' Bundesland'' (Federal State) of Saxony-Anhalt. Since 1 July 2007, it has been part of the newly created municipality of Dessau-Ro� ...

, Germany.

Buildings completed

Dormition of the Theotokos Cathedral, Satu Mare The Dormition of the Theotokos Cathedral ( ro, Biserica Ortodoxă Adormirea Maicii Domnului) is a Romanian Orthodox religious building in Satu Mare, Romania. Located on Dr. Vasile Lucaciu boulevard, it was originally built from the plans of the ...

, Romania, designed by Ioan Liteanu *

Mausoleum of Yugoslavian Soldiers in Olomouc The Mausoleum of Yugoslav Soldiers ( cs, Mauzoleum jugoslávských vojínů or also ''Jihoslovanské mauzoleum'') is a neoclassical chapel with an ossuary containing remains of soldiers from what later became Yugoslavia killed in the First World ...

, designed by Hubert Aust *

Sacred Heart Cathedral of Harbin The Cathedral of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (in ) is a Roman Catholic church in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, China. Its official name is Sacred Heart of Jesus Diocesan Cathedral of Harbin. General Under construction Sacred Heart Cathedral of Ha ...

, China * Church of The English Martyrs (Roman Catholic),

Reading, Berkshire Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, southeast England. Located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the rivers Thames and Kennet, the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway serve the town. Reading is east o ...

, England, designed by Wilfred C. Mangan *

Southwestern Bell Building The Southwestern Bell Building is a 28-story, skyscraper constructed to be the headquarters of Southwestern Bell Telephone in downtown St. Louis, Missouri. At the time of its construction it was Missouri's tallest building. The building, whi ...

downtown St. Louis Downtown St. Louis is the central business district of St. Louis, Missouri, the hub of tourism and entertainment, and the anchor of the St. Louis metropolitan area. The downtown is bounded by Cole Street to the north, the river front to the eas ...

, Missouri, USA, designed by Mauran, Russell & Crowell with

I.R. Timlin Irving Ray Timlin (December 15, 1880 – October 18, 1955) was an American architect. He spent his entire career with the Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, where he was chief architect during the company's rapid expansion in the first half ...

* Sourdough Inn, Fort Yukon, Alaska, USA * Remodeling of Twin Peaks, 102 Bedford Street,

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

, New York City, USA, by Clifford Reed Daily *

900 Stewart Avenue (Ithaca, New York) 900 Stewart Avenue is a building in Ithaca, New York, noted for its Egyptian Revival architecture, its dramatic placement partway down a cliff, and being the residence of astronomer Carl Sagan. The building is on a ledge about below street level, ...

, USA * New Ways (house for

Wenman Joseph Bassett-Lowke Wenman Joseph Bassett-Lowke (27 December 1877 Northampton – 21 October 1953) was the son of Joseph Tom Lowke, a Northampton boilermaker and his wife, Eliza, and is noted for having founded the firm of Bassett-Lowke which specialised in producing ...

), 508 Wellingborough Road,

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

, England, designed by

Peter Behrens Peter Behrens (14 April 1868 – 27 February 1940) was a leading German architect, graphic and industrial designer, best known for his early pioneering AEG Turbine Hall in Berlin in 1909. He had a long career, designing objects, typefaces, an ...

, "a pioneer of modern architecture in Britain" * Villa Wolf in

Gubin, Poland Gubin (german: Guben) is a town in Krosno Odrzańskie County, Lubusz Voivodeship, in western Poland. It is the administrative seat of the rural Gmina Gubin, though not part of it. Gubin is on the right bank of the Lusatian Neisse river, at the b ...

, designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

Awards

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 ...

–

Ragnar Ostberg Ragnar ( non, Ragnarr ) is a masculine Germanic given name, composed of the Old Norse elements ''ragin-'' "counsel" and ''hari-'' "army". Origin and variations The Proto-Germanic forms of the compounds are "ragina" (counsel) and "harjaz" or " ...

. *

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: Jean-Baptiste Hourlier.

Births

21 January Events Pre-1600 * 763 – Following the Battle of Bakhamra between Alids and Abbasids near Kufa, the Alid rebellion ends with the death of Ibrahim, brother of Isa ibn Musa. *1525 – The Swiss Anabaptist Movement is founded when Con ...

–

Roger Taillibert Roger Taillibert (21 January 1926 – 3 October 2019) was a French architect, active as a designer from about 1963 to 1987. Taillibert was notable for designing the Parc des Princes in Paris and the Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Quebec, Canada ...

, French architect (died

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

) *

8 April Events Pre-1600 * 217 – Roman emperor Caracalla is assassinated and is succeeded by his Praetorian Guard prefect, Marcus Opellius Macrinus. * 876 – The Battle of Dayr al-'Aqul saves Baghdad from the Saffarids. *1139 – Roger ...

–

Henry N. Cobb Henry Nichols Cobb (April 8, 1926 – March 2, 2020) was an American architect and founding partner with I.M. Pei and Eason H. Leonard of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, an international architectural firm based in New York City. Early life Henry N. ...

, American architect (died

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in ...

) *

15 April Events Pre-1600 * 769 – The Lateran Council ends by condemning the Council of Hieria and anathematizing its iconoclastic rulings. *1071 – Bari, the last Byzantine possession in southern Italy, is surrendered to Robert Guiscard. ...

–

Norma Merrick Sklarek Norma Merrick Sklarek (April 15, 1926 – February 6, 2012) was an American architect. Sklarek was the first African American woman to become a licensed architect in the states of New York (1954) and California (1962). Her notable works include t ...

, African American architect (died

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

) *

22 April Events Pre-1600 *1500 – Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral lands in Brazil. *1519 – Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés establishes a settlement at Veracruz, Mexico. *1529 – Treaty of Zaragoza divides the eastern he ...

– James Stirling, British architect (died

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engines ...

) *

18 July Events Pre-1600 *477 BC – Battle of the Cremera as part of the Roman–Etruscan Wars. Veii ambushes and defeats the Roman army. *387 BC – Roman-Gaulish Wars: Battle of the Allia: A Roman army is defeated by raiding Gauls, leading ...

–

Carlo Aymonino Carlo Aymonino (18 July 1926 – 3 July 2010) was an Italian architect and urban planner best known for the Monte Amiata housing complex in Milan. Early life Born in Rome, he studied at the University of Rome, obtaining his degree in 1950. In ...

, Italian architect and urban planner (died

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

) *

12 October Events Pre-1600 *539 BC – The army of Cyrus the Great of Persia takes Babylon, ending the Babylonian empire. ( Julian calendar) * 633 – Battle of Hatfield Chase: King Edwin of Northumbria is defeated and killed by an alliance u ...

–

César Pelli César Pelli (October 12, 1926 – July 19, 2019) was an Argentine-American architect who designed some of the world's tallest buildings and other major urban landmarks. Two of his most notable buildings are the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur a ...

, Argentine-born architect (died

) *

6 December Events Pre-1600 *1060 – Béla I is crowned king of Hungary. *1240 – Mongol invasion of Rus': Kyiv, defended by Voivode Dmytro, falls to the Mongols under Batu Khan. *1492 – After exploring the island of Cuba for gold (which ...

Rifat Chadirji Rifat Chadirji ( ar, رفعت الجادرجي ''Rifa'a al-Khādarjī'', also Romanized ''Rifa'at Al Chaderchi''; 6 December 1926 – 10 April 2020) was an Iraqi Turkmen architect. He was often referred to as the father of modern Iraqi architect ...

, Iraqi architect (died

)

Deaths

10 June Events Pre-1600 * 671 – Emperor Tenji of Japan introduces a water clock ( clepsydra) called ''Rokoku''. The instrument, which measures time and indicates hours, is placed in the capital of Ōtsu. *1190 – Third Crusade: Frederick I B ...

–

, Spanish architect, exponent of

Catalan Modernism ''Modernisme'' (, Catalan for "modernism"), also known as Catalan modernism and Catalan art nouveau, is the historiographic denomination given to an art and literature movement associated with the search of a new entitlement of Catalan culture ...

(born

1852 Events January–March * January 14 – President Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte proclaims a new constitution for the French Second Republic. * January 15 – Nine men representing various Jewish charitable organizations come t ...

) *

7 July Events Pre-1600 *1124 – The city of Tyre falls to the Venetian Crusade after a siege of nineteen weeks. * 1456 – A retrial verdict acquits Joan of Arc of heresy 25 years after her execution. *1520 – Spanish '' conquistadore ...

–

Fyodor Schechtel Fyodor Osipovich Schechtel (russian: Фёдор О́сипович Ше́хтель; August 7, 1859 – July 7, 1926) was a Russian architect, graphic artist and stage designer, the most influential and prolific master of Russian Art Nouveau and ...

, Russian architect, graphic artist and stage designer (born

1859 Events January–March * January 21 – José Mariano Salas (1797–1867) becomes Conservative interim President of Mexico. * January 24 ( O. S.) – Wallachia and Moldavia are united under Alexandru Ioan Cuza (Romania since 1866, final ...

)

References

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