Observations for Young Architects

World-renowned architect Cesar Pelli has distilled the wisdom and experience gained through many years of practice into this deeply felt book meant for those interested in or about to embark upon the profession of architecture. His passion and understanding for the richness and complexity of architecture is transmitted throughout this personal volume. Pelli discusses what it is that makes architecture unique among the arts: that it stands at the junction of a profession and an art, that its completion is final, that it is meant to be inhabited and taken over by its inhabitants. He bases his analysis on eight principal "connections": time, construction, place, purpose, culture, design process, constituency, and oneself. Each connection is discussed using historic and contemporary examples in both the text and illustrations. After the general discussion, Pelli turns to first-person commentary, using examples and illustrations from his own work, including such important buildings as Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (the world's tallest building), the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles, and the World Financial Center complex in New York City. This heartfelt volume is both a practical account of the building of art and a lyrical reflection on the art of building. Guidebook, history, manual, it is truly an architectural autobiography with resonance far beyond the "young architects" for whom it is titled. Educated in Argentina and the United States,