The year 1955 in architecture involved some significant architectural events and new buildings.

Events

* June – ''Outrage'', a special issue of ''

Architectural Review ''The Architectural Review'' is a monthly international architectural magazine. It has been published in London since 1896. Its articles cover the built environment – which includes landscape, building design, interior design and urbanism � ...

'' condemning the areas of British cities failed by urban planning, establishes the reputation of Ian Nairn as an architectural critic. * December –

Reyner Banham Peter Reyner Banham Hon. FRIBA (2 March 1922 – 19 March 1988) was an English architectural critic and writer best known for his theoretical treatise ''Theory and Design in the First Machine Age'' (1960) and for his 1971 book ''Los Angeles: Th ...

introduces the term "

New Brutalism Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by minimalist constructions that showcase the ba ...

" into English print, writing in ''Architectural Review''. * Chinese American architect

I. M. Pei Ieoh Ming Pei
– website of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners ( ; ; April 26, 1917 – May 16, 2019) was ...

establishes the architectural practice I. M. Pei & Associates with Eason H. Leonard and Henry N. Cobb in New York City. * German architect Josef Bieling establishes the architectural practice Architekturbüro Josef Bieling in his hometown

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...

Buildings and structures

Buildings opened

* June 25 – Notre Dame du Haut in Ronchamp, France, designed by

Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...

, is dedicated. * July 22 –

Palace of Culture and Science A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...

in Warsaw, the tallest building in Poland (1955–present) and the second tallest in Europe (1955–1990), designed by Lev Rudnev. * August – Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, Japan, designed by

Kenzō Tange was a Japanese architect, and winner of the 1987 Pritzker Prize for architecture. He was one of the most significant architects of the 20th century, combining traditional Japanese styles with modernism, and designed major buildings on five cont ...

Buildings completed

* February –

Bavinger House The Bavinger House was completed in 1955 in Norman, Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, United States. It was designed by architect Bruce Goff. Considered a significant example of organic architecture,Form prepared by Arn Henderson. . Accessed May 6, 2 ...

in Norman, Oklahoma, United States, the best-known building designed by Bruce Goff. *

MIT Chapel The MIT Chapel (dedicated 1955, completed in 1956) is a non-denominational chapel designed by noted architect Eero Saarinen. It is located on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, next to Kresge Aud ...

and Kresge Auditorium at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, designed by Eero Saarinen. * Chapel of

Trinity College, Toronto Trinity College (occasionally referred to as The University of Trinity College) is a college federated with the University of Toronto, founded in 1851 by Bishop John Strachan. Strachan originally intended Trinity as a university of strong Angli ...

, designed by Giles Gilbert Scott. *

Dominus Flevit Church Dominus Flevit (Latin, "the Lord wept") is a Roman Catholic church on the Mount of Olives, opposite the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem in Israel. During construction of the sanctuary, archaeologists uncovered artifacts dating back to the Cana ...

, Jerusalem, designed by Antonio Barluzzi. * Restoration following bomb damage at

Lambeth Palace Lambeth Palace is the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is situated in north Lambeth, London, on the south bank of the River Thames, south-east of the Palace of Westminster, which houses Parliament, on the opposite ...

in London, by Seely & Paget. * Reconstructed Kinkaku-ji temple in Kyoto, Japan. *

Chandigarh High Court Chandigarh () is a planned city in India. Chandigarh is bordered by the state of Punjab to the west and the south, and by the state of Haryana to the east. It constitutes the bulk of the Chandigarh Capital Region or Greater Chandigarh, which al ...

(Palace of Justice),

Chandigarh Capitol Complex Chandigarh Capitol Complex, located in the sector-1 of Chandigarh city in India, is a government compound designed by the architect Le Corbusier and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is spread over an area of around 100 acres and is a prime man ...

, India, designed by

. * Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

, Alberta. * Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton, Alberta. * Punta La Entallada Lighthouse on

Fuerteventura Fuerteventura () is one of the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean, part of the North Africa region, and politically part of Spain. It is located away from the northwestern coast of Africa. The island was declared a biosphere reserve by UNES ...

, Canary Islands, designed by Carlos Alcon. * Fundació Pilar y Joan Miró in Palma, Majorca, designed by Josep Lluís Sert. * Tate & Lyle sugar silo, Liverpool, England. * Casa Antonio Gálvez, Mexico City, designed by Luis Barragán. * House Fox, Worcester, Western Cape, South Africa, designed by Revel Fox. * Houses for self at 7 Gibraltar Hill and for E. W. Scorer, both in

Lincoln, England Lincoln () is a cathedral city, a non-metropolitan district, and the county town of Lincolnshire, England. In the 2021 Census, the Lincoln district had a population of 103,813. The 2011 census gave the Lincoln Urban Area, urban area of Lincoln, ...

, designed by Sam Scorer. * House for John Womersley at

Farnley Tyas Farnley Tyas is a small village in West Yorkshire, England south east of Huddersfield. It is located on a hilltop between Almondbury, Castle Hill, Thurstonland and Honley. It is mostly rural and farmland with private housing and some local auth ...

, Yorkshire, England, designed by Peter Womersley. * "Hermit's Castle", Achmelvich, Scotland, designed by David Scott.

Awards

* AIA Gold Medal – Willem Marinus Dudok. * RIBA Royal Gold Medal –

John Murray Easton John Murray Easton (30 January 1889 – 19 August 1975) was a Scottish architect and the winner of the Royal Gold Medal for architecture awarded by the Royal Institute of British Architects. Early life Easton was born in Edinburgh on 30 Januar ...

. * Grand Prix de Rome, architecture – Ngô Viết Thụ.

Births

* February 12 – Enric Miralles, Spanish

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

architect (died

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

) * April 14 – Robert Couturier, French architect and interior designer, designer of Cuixmala * July 2 –

Francine Houben Francine Marie Jeanne Houben (; born 2 July 1955)Francine Houben, Architect/Urbanist ...

, Dutch architect *

August 2 Events Pre-1600 *338 BC – A Macedonian army led by Philip II defeated the combined forces of Athens and Thebes in the Battle of Chaeronea, securing Macedonian hegemony in Greece and the Aegean. *216 BC – The Carthaginian arm ...

– Anne Lacaton, French architect * November 17 –

Amanda Levete Amanda Jane Levete CBE, RA (17 November 1955) explores the transformation of space through her numerous buildings and furniture pieces. Levete enjoys creating the unexpected, and exploring the utilization of opposition. Levete is known for the ...

, British architect * ''date unknown'' **

Miroslav Grčev Miroslav Grčev ( mk, Мирослав Грчев, ; born 1955) is a Macedonian architect, graphic designer, comics artist Tomislav Osmanli„Razvojot na stripot vo Makedonija – sedum decenii stripovno tvoreštvo“ ''Strip, zapis so čovečki ...

Macedonian Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia. Macedonian(s) may specifically refer to: People Modern * Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North M ...

architect and graphic designer ** Alan Powers, British modern architecture and design historian

Deaths

* February 7 – Carl Rubin,

Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...

n-born Israeli

International Style International style may refer to: * International Style (architecture), the early 20th century modern movement in architecture *International style (art), the International Gothic style in medieval art *International Style (dancing), a term used in ...

architect (born

1899 Events January 1899 * January 1 ** Spanish rule ends in Cuba, concluding 400 years of the Spanish Empire in the Americas. ** Queens and Staten Island become administratively part of New York City. * January 2 – **Bolivia sets up a c ...

) * April 16 – George Howe,

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

International Style architect and educator (born

1886 Events January–March * January 1 – Upper Burma is formally annexed to British Burma, following its conquest in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of November 1885. * January 5– 9 – Robert Louis Stevenson's novella ''Strange ...

) *

August 6 Events Pre-1600 *1284 – The Republic of Pisa is defeated in the Battle of Meloria by the Republic of Genoa, thus losing its naval dominance in the Mediterranean. * 1538 – Bogotá, Colombia, is founded by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada ...

–

Dominikus Böhm Dominikus Böhm (23 October 1880 – 6 August 1955) was a German architect specializing in churches. He built churches in Cologne, the Ruhr area, Swabia, and Hesse. Many of his buildings are examples of Brick Expressionism. Life and caree ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

church architect (born

1880 Events January–March * January 22 – Toowong State School is founded in Queensland, Australia. * January – The international White slave trade affair scandal in Brussels is exposed and attracts international infamy. * February � ...

) *

November 29 Events Pre-1600 * 561 – Following the death of King Chlothar I at Compiègne, his four sons, Charibert I, Guntram, Sigebert I and Chilperic I, divide the Frankish Kingdom. * 618 – The Tang dynasty scores a decisive victory over t ...

–

Rene Paul Chambellan Rene Paul Chambellan (September 15, 1893 – November 29, 1955) was an American sculptor who specialized in architectural sculpture. He was also one of the foremost practitioners of what was then called the "French Modern Style" and has subseque ...

, American architectural sculptor (born

1893 Events January–March * January 2 – Webb C. Ball introduces railroad chronometers, which become the general railroad timepiece standards in North America. * Mark Twain started writing Puddn'head Wilson. * January 6 – Th ...

)

References

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