César Pelli: 1926—: Architect Biography

Argentinian-born César Pelli is the architect of some of the most striking skyscrapers on the urban American landscape. Pelli's buildings often boast innovative new design strategies, frequently in the form of an unusually textured or rippled outer "skin." A modest practitioner in a profession known for oversized egos, Pelli rejects architectural style labels such as modern or postmodern, and instead simply insists that a building should reflect its surroundings. Time's Kurt Andersen said of Pelli, "Remarkably, his very big buildings are thoughtful, likable, rich in detail, humane." In 1991 the American Institute of Architects (AIA) named him as one of the ten most influential living American architects.