1961 in architecture

The year 1961 in architecture involved some significant architectural events and new buildings.

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Events

• December - Demolition of the Euston Arch in London begins.
• Archigram is founded as an avant-garde architectural group based at the Architectural Association, London, and publishes its manifesto Archigram I. It will work through hypothetical projects and an associated magazine.^[1]
• Ahrends, Burton and Koralek is formed as an architectural practice in London.
• Building Design Partnership is formed in Preston, Lancashire.
• St Eusebius' Church, Arnhem, Netherlands, is restored by Berend Tobia Boeyinga.^[2]
• The first apartment blocks in Hungary of Panelház (large panel building) construction are erected in Dunaújváros.
• Construction of Jatiyo Sangsad Bhaban (house of the national parliament of Bangladesh) in Dhaka, designed by Louis Kahn, begins.
• Double tee beams are first used by Gene Leedy in constructing his own office at Winter Haven, Florida.^[3]

Buildings and structures

See also: Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1961

Buildings opened

Guildford Cathedral, England

The Kremlin Palace of Congresses in Moscow, Russia

• February 6 - Olin Library at Cornell University, designed by Warner, Burns, Toan & Lunde,^[4] opens.^[5]
• March 11 - Benton Park School, Leeds, England, designed by Sir John Burnet, Tait and Partners, formally opened.
• May 17 - Guildford Cathedral, England, designed by Sir Edward Maufe, dedicated.
• May 18 - The Henninger Turm in Frankfurt, Germany, designed by Karl Leiser, inaugurated.^[6]
• September 17 - The Civic Arena, Pittsburgh, United States, designed by Mitchell and Ritchey, is completed (demolished 2011-2012).
• October 17 - The Kremlin Palace of Congresses in Moscow, Soviet Union, designed by a team led by M. Posokhin.
• November 20 - Dungeness Lighthouse on the south coast of England, designed by Philip W. Hunt (engineer) and Ronald Ward and Partners (architects), illuminated.
• December 17 - New Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church (Gedächtniskirche) in Berlin, designed by Egon Eiermann, consecrated.
• date unknown - Rose Art Museum in Waltham, Massachusetts, designed by Harrison & Abramovitz.^[7]

Buildings completed

Hyvinkää Church, Finland

• December 8 - The Space Needle in Seattle, Washington, United States, designed by Edward Carlson, John Graham and Victor Steinbrueck.^[8]
• date unknown
  • Hyvinkää Church in Hyvinkää, Finland, designed by Aarno Ruusuvuori.
  • The Palazzo del Lavoro and Palazzetto dello sport in Turin, designed by Pier Luigi Nervi.
  • One Chase Manhattan Plaza in New York City, United States, designed by Gordon Bunshaft of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill.
  • The Empress State Building in London, England, designed by Stone, Toms & Partners.
  • Brasenose College, Oxford, England, Staircases 16, 17 and 18, designed by Powell and Moya.
  • Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, England, Wolfson Quadrangle library and entrance, designed by Raymond Erith.
  • Yokohama Marine Tower in Yokohama, Japan.
  • Chungking Mansions in Hong Kong, China.
  • Park Hill Flats, Sheffield, England, designed by Jack Lynn and Ivor Smith.^[9]
  • Keelson (house for Olga Kennard), Hills Avenue, Cambridge, England, designed by Danish architect Eric Sørensen.^[10]
  • Embassy of the United States, Baghdad, Iraq, designed by Josep Lluís Sert, is completed^[11][12] (abandoned 1990).
  • Michael Faraday Memorial at Elephant and Castle in London, designed by Rodney Gordon.
  • Service station with hyperbolic paraboloid concrete shell roof at Markham Moor, Nottinghamshire, England, designed by Sam Scorer.

Publications

• Jane Jacobs - The Death and Life of Great American Cities
• Lewis Mumford - The City in History
• Gordon Cullen - The Concise Townscape

Awards

• AIA Gold Medal - Le Corbusier.
• RAIA Gold Medal - Louis Laybourne-Smith.
• RIBA Royal Gold Medal - Lewis Mumford.
• Rome Prize - Max Abramovitz

Births

• July - Simon Allford, English architect
• November 18 - Dietmar Feichtinger, Austrian architect based in Paris
• Patrik Schumacher, German-born architect

Eero Saarinen

Deaths

• January 5 - Yehuda Magidovitch, Israeli architect (born 1886)
• July 18 - Olaf Andreas Gulbransson, German architect (born 1916)
• August 3 - Gilbert Stanley Underwood, American architect best known for his National Park lodges (born 1880)
• September 1 - Eero Saarinen, Finnish architect and industrial designer (born 1910)
• September 16 - Walter Godfrey, English architectural historian and architect (born 1881)
• October 19 - Jan Buijs, Dutch architect (born 1889)^[13]
• December 13 - Henry Hornbostel, American architect and educator (born 1867)