The year 1962 in architecture involved some significant architectural events and new buildings.

Events

* Construction of

Dalgety Bay Dalgety Bay () is a coastal town and parish in Fife, Scotland, on the north shore of the Firth of Forth, 9 miles from Edinburgh city centre. It is part of the Greater Dunfermline Area and is connected to Inverkeithing to the West. The civil pa ...

, a small

New town New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz (South Korean band), The Boyz * New (album), ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** New (Paul McCartney song), "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * New (EP), ''New'' (EP), ...

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, begins.

Buildings and structures

Buildings opened

April 21 Events Pre-1600 * 753 BC – Romulus founds Rome ( traditional date). * 43 BC – Battle of Mutina: Mark Antony is again defeated in battle by Aulus Hirtius, who is killed. Antony fails to capture Mutina and Decimus Brutus is mur ...

– The

Space Needle The Space Needle is an observation tower in Seattle, Washington, United States. Considered to be an icon of the city, it has been designated a List of Seattle landmarks, Seattle landmark. Located in the Lower Queen Anne, Seattle, Lower Queen An ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, just in time for the

Century 21 Exposition The Century 21 Exposition (also known as the Seattle World's Fair) was a world's fair held April 21, 1962, to October 21, 1962, in Seattle, Washington, United States.May 25 Events Pre-1600 * 567 BC – Servius Tullius, the king of Rome, celebrates a triumph for his victory over the Etruscans. * 240 BC – First recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. * 1085 – Alfonso VI of Castile takes ...

–

Coventry Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Saint Michael, commonly known as Coventry Cathedral, is the seat of the Bishop of Coventry and the Diocese of Coventry within the Church of England. The cathedral is located in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midla ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, designed by

Basil Spence Sir Basil Urwin Spence, (13 August 1907 – 19 November 1976) was a Scottish architect, most notably associated with Coventry Cathedral in England and the Beehive in New Zealand, but also responsible for numerous other buildings in the Moderni ...

, is consecrated. *

May 28 Events Pre-1600 * 585 BC – A solar eclipse occurs, as predicted by the Greek philosopher and scientist Thales, while Alyattes is battling Cyaxares in the Battle of the Eclipse, leading to a truce. This is one of the cardinal dates from ...

–

TWA Flight Center The TWA Flight Center, also known as the Trans World Flight Center, is an airport terminal and hotel complex at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York City. The original terminal building, or head house, operated as a terminal ...

JFK Airport John F. Kennedy International Airport is a major international airport serving New York City and its metropolitan area. JFK Airport is located on the southwestern shore of Long Island, in Queens, New York City, bordering Jamaica Bay. It is t ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, designed by

Eero Saarinen Eero Saarinen (, ; August 20, 1910 – September 1, 1961) was a Finnish-American architect and industrial designer who created a wide array of innovative designs for buildings and monuments, including the General Motors Technical Center; the pa ...

. *

July 1 Events Pre-1600 * 69 – Tiberius Julius Alexander orders his Roman legions in Alexandria to swear allegiance to Vespasian as Emperor. * 552 – Battle of Taginae: Byzantine forces under Narses defeat the Ostrogoths in Italy, and ...

– The Minolta Tower in

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the Canada–United States border, border between the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York (s ...

. *

August 24 Events Pre-1600 * 367 – Gratian, son of Roman Emperor Valentinian I, is named co-Augustus at the age of eight by his father. * 394 – The Graffito of Esmet-Akhom, the latest known inscription in Egyptian hieroglyphs, is written ...

–

General Rafael Urdaneta Bridge The General Rafael Urdaneta Bridge is located at the Tablazo Strait outlet of Lake Maracaibo, in western Venezuela. The bridge connects Maracaibo with much of the rest of the country. It is named after General Rafael Urdaneta, a Venezuelan hero ...

over

Lake Maracaibo Lake Maracaibo () is located in northwestern Venezuela, between the states of Zulia, Trujillo, and Mérida. While Maracaibo is commonly referred to as a lake, its current hydrological characteristics may better classify it as estuary and/or ...

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

, designed by

Riccardo Morandi Riccardo Morandi visiting Palace of Justice Competition. Riccardo Morandi (1 September 1902 – 25 December 1989) was an Italian civil engineer best known for his innovative use of reinforced concrete and prestressed concrete, although over the ...

; opened by President

Romulo Betancourt Romulo may refer to: People with the given name Romulo Italian * Rômulo (footballer, born 1987), Brazilian-born football player * Romulo Cincinato (1502 – circa 1593), painter Portuguese * Rómulo (footballer, born 1976), football player Me ...

. *

September 23 Events Pre-1600 * 38 – Drusilla, Caligula's sister who died in June, with whom the emperor is said to have an incestuous relationship, is deified. * 1122 – Pope Callixtus II and Holy Roman Emperor Henry V agree to the Concordat o ...

– Philharmonic Hall,

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 ...

, New York City, designed by

Max Abramovitz Max Abramovitz (May 23, 1908 – September 12, 2004) was an American architect. He was best known for his work with the New York City firm Harrison & Abramovitz. Life Abramovitz was the son of Romanian Jewish immigrant parents. He graduat ...

. *

November 6 Events Pre-1600 * 447 – A powerful earthquake destroys large portions of the Walls of Constantinople, including 57 towers. * 963 – Synod of Rome: Emperor Otto I calls a council at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Pope John XII ...

–

Commonwealth Institute The Commonwealth Education Trust was a registered charity established in 2007 as the successor trust to the Commonwealth Institute. The trust focuses on primary and secondary education and the training of teachers and invests on educational pr ...

in the

London Borough of Kensington The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (often known by its initialism as RBKC) is an Inner London borough with royal status. It is the smallest borough in London and the second smallest district in England; it is one of the most densel ...

, designed by Sir

Robert Matthew Sir Robert Hogg Matthew (12 December 1906 – 2 June 1975) was a Scottish architect and a leading proponent of modernism. Early life and studies Robert Matthew was the son of John Fraser Matthew (1875–1955) (also an architect, and the pa ...

RMJM RMJM (Robert Matthew Johnson Marshall) is one of the largest architecture and design networks in the world. Services include architecture, development management, engineering, interior design, landscape design, lead consultancy, master planning ...

; opened by Queen Elizabeth II (refurbished 2016 as the

Design Museum The Design Museum in Kensington, London, England, exhibits product, industrial, graphic, fashion, and architectural design. In 2018, the museum won the European Museum of the Year Award. The museum operates as a registered charity, and all fund ...

). * ''dates unknown'' ** St George's Church,

Rugby, Warwickshire Rugby is a market town in eastern Warwickshire, England, close to the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, its population was 78,117, making it the List of Warwickshire towns by population, secon ...

, England, designed by Denys Hinton, is consecrated. **

Saint Petersburg TV Tower Saint Petersburg Television Tower is a Russian steel lattice tower, lattice television tower in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Being the first dedicated television tower in the Soviet Union, the Saint Petersburg TV Tower is utilized for transmitting ...

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. ** KPN-Zendmast Waalhaven in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Buildings completed

* Both

Marina City Marina City is a mixed-use residential-commercial building complex in Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America, designed by architect Bertrand Goldberg. The multi-building complex on State Street on the north bank of the Chicago River o ...

towers in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, are completed; however, they are not fully furnished until 1964. *

Tour CIBC CIBC Tower () is a 45-storey skyscraper in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The International Style office tower was built by Peter Dickinson, with associate architects Ross, Fish, Duschenes and Barrett, and was the city's tallest building from 1962 ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. *

Place Ville Marie Place Ville Marie (, abbr. PVM) is a large office and shopping complex skyscraper in Downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada, comprising four office buildings and an underground shopping plaza. The main building, 1 Place Ville Marie (formerly Royal Ba ...

, becoming the tallest building in the British Commonwealth (1962–1964). *

CIS Tower The CIS Tower is a high-rise office building on Miller Street in Manchester, England. Designed for the Co-operative Insurance Society (CIS) by architects Gordon Tait and G. S. Hay, the building was completed in 1962 and rises to in height. ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, England, designed by G. S. Hay and Gordon Tait, becoming the tallest building in the United Kingdom (1962–1963). *

Tryvannstårnet Tryvannstårnet (the Tryvann tower) is an 118-metre (387 feet) tall broadcasting tower near Oslo, located 529 metres (1,736 feet) above mean sea level on the summit of Tryvannshøyden hill overlooking lake Tryvann. Tryvannstårnet was built in ...

, broadcasting tower in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. *

Sentech Tower The Sentech Tower, previously named the Albert Hertzog Tower and commonly known as the Brixton Tower, is a concrete television tower in the Brixton suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa, near the top of the Brixton Ridge. It is a well-known and e ...

, television transmitter in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

(transmissions began in 1961). * Policromatic condominium block in

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

by Ivo Vitic. *

United States Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel The United States Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel, completed in 1962, is the distinguishing feature of the Cadet Area at the United States Air Force Academy#Campus and facilities, United States Air Force Academy north of Colorado Springs, Colorado ...

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010. Colorado Springs is the second-most populous c ...

, designed by

Walter Netsch Walter A. Netsch (February 23, 1920 – June 15, 2008) was an American architect based in Chicago. He was most closely associated with the brutalist style of architecture as well as with the firm of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. His signature aesth ...

. * Tukal, on

Beaulieu River The Beaulieu River ( ), formerly known as the River Exe, is a small river draining much of the central New Forest in Hampshire, southern England. The river has many small upper branches and its farthest source is from its -long tidal estuary. ...

in Hampshire, England, house designed for himself by Seymour Harris.

Awards

AIA Gold Medal The AIA Gold Medal is awarded by the American Institute of Architects conferred "by the national AIA Board of Directors in recognition of a significant body of work of lasting influence on the theory and practice of architecture." It is the Ins ...

–

(posthumous). *

Architecture Firm Award The Architecture Firm Award is the highest honor that the American Institute of Architects can bestow on an architecture firm for consistently producing distinguished architecture. Prior recipients of the AIA Architecture Firm Award include: *2025 ...

–

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill SOM, an initialism of its original name Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, is a Chicago-based architectural, urban planning, and engineering firm. It was founded in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings. In 1939, they were joined by engineer ...

. *

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 –

Piet Blom Piet Blom (; February 8, 1934 in Amsterdam – June 8, 1999 in Denmark) was a Dutch architect best known for his designs of the Bastille (1964–1969), a restaurant and student facility at the University of Twente, Enschede, the housing project ...

. * RAIA Gold Medal – Joseph Fowell. *

RIBA ''Riba'' (, or , ) is an Arabic word used in Islamic law and roughly translated as " usury": unjust, exploitative gains made in trade or business. ''Riba'' is mentioned and condemned in several different verses in the Qur'an3:130

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 ...

–

Sven Gottfried Markelius Sven Gottfrid Markelius (25 October 1889 – 24 February 1972) was a Swedish modernist architect. Markelius played an important role in the post-war urban planning of Stockholm, for example in the creation of the model suburbs of Vällingby (1950 ...

Births

February 25 Events Pre-1600 * 138 – Roman emperor Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius as his son, effectively making him his successor. * 628 – Khosrow II, the last great Shah of the Sasanian Empire (Iran), is overthrown by his son Kavadh II. * ...

– Andres Siim, Estonian architect

Deaths

January 16 Events Pre-1600 * 1458 BC – Hatshepsut dies at the age of 50 and is buried in the Valley of the Kings. * 27 BC – Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus is granted the title Augustus by the Roman Senate, marking the beginning of the R ...

–

Ivan Meštrović Ivan Meštrović (; 15 August 1883 – 16 January 1962) was a Croatian and Yugoslav sculptor, architect, and writer. He was the most prominent modern Croatian sculptor and a leading artistic personality in contemporary Zagreb. He studied at Pa ...

, Croatian sculptor and architect (born

1883 Events January * January 4 – ''Life'' magazine is founded in Los Angeles, California, United States. * January 10 – A fire at the Newhall Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, kills 73 people. * January 16 – ...

) *

–

W. Gray Young William Gray Young (21 June 1885 – 21 April 1962) was a New Zealand architect in the early 20th century, designing buildings such as Knox College, Otago, Knox College in Dunedin, the Wellington railway station and Wellington, Wellington's Elli ...

, New Zealand architect (born

1885 Events January * January 3– 4 – Sino-French War – Battle of Núi Bop: French troops under General Oscar de Négrier defeat a numerically superior Qing Chinese force, in northern Vietnam. * January 17 – Mahdist ...

) *

May 14 Events Pre-1600 * 1027 – Robert II of France Robert II ( 972 – 20 July 1031), called the Pious () or the Wise (), was List of French monarchs, King of the Franks from 996 to 1031, the second from the Capetian dynasty. Crowned Juni ...

–

Dov Karmi Dov Karmi (; ‎1905 – 14 May 1962) was an architect of Mandatory Palestine and Israel. Biography Dov Karmi was born in 1905, the son of Hannah and Sholom Weingarten, in Zhvanets, Russian Empire, in modern-day Ukraine. In 1921, the fami ...

, Israeli architect (born

1905 As the second year of the massive Russo-Japanese War begins, more than 100,000 die in the largest world battles of that era, and the war chaos leads to the 1905 Russian Revolution against Nicholas II of Russia (Shostakovich's 11th Symphony i ...

) *

August 18 Events Pre-1600 * 684 – Battle of Marj Rahit: Umayyad partisans defeat the supporters of Ibn al-Zubayr and cement Umayyad control of Syria. * 707 – Princess Abe accedes to the imperial Japanese throne as Empress Genmei. * 130 ...

–

Max Fabiani Maximilian Fabiani, commonly known as Max Fabiani (, ) (29 April 1865 – 12 August 1962) was an Italians, Italian architect, born in the village of Kobdilj near Štanjel on the Karst Plateau, County of Gorizia and Gradisca, in present-day Sl ...

, Slovene-Italian architect (born

1865 Events January * January 4 – The New York Stock Exchange opens its first permanent headquarters at 10-12 Broad near Wall Street, in New York City. * January 13 – American Civil War: Second Battle of Fort Fisher – Unio ...

) *

–

Louis de Soissons Louis Emanuel Jean Guy de Savoie-Carignan de Soissons Commander of the Royal Victorian Order, CVO Royal Academy, RA FRIBA (1890–1962) was the younger son of Charles de Savoie-Carignan, Count of Soissons, Count de Soissons (with claimed desce ...

, Canadian-born English architect (born

1890 Events January * January 1 – The Kingdom of Italy establishes Eritrea as its colony in the Horn of Africa. * January 2 – Alice Sanger becomes the first female staffer in the White House. * January 11 – 1890 British Ultimatum: The Uni ...

) *

December 28 Events Pre-1600 * 418 – A papal election begins, resulting in the election of Pope Boniface I. * 457 – Majorian is acclaimed as Western Roman emperor. * 484 – Alaric II succeeds his father Euric and becomes king of the V ...

–

Karl Völker Karl Völker (17 October 1889 – 28 December 1962) was a German architect and painter associated with the New Objectivity movement. He was born in Halle, Saxony-Anhalt. After an apprenticeship as an interior decorator from 1904 to 1910, he stud ...

, German architect and painter (born

1889 Events January * January 1 ** The total solar eclipse of January 1, 1889 is seen over parts of California and Nevada. ** Paiute spiritual leader Wovoka experiences a vision, leading to the start of the Ghost Dance movement in the Dakotas ...

)

References

{{reflist 20th-century architecture