1979 in architecture

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The year 1979 involved some significant architectural events and new buildings.

Buildings opened

Kuwait Towers

• March - Kuwait Towers opens in Kuwait City with a Viewing Sphere which completes a full turn every 30 minutes.
• September 2 - Prabhupada's Palace of Gold is dedicated in Marshall County, West Virginia, USA, as a memorial shrine built by Hare Krishna devotees.
• September 3 - National Theater of Cuba, Havana; construction of the building began in 1951.
• October 10 - The Atheneum, designed by Richard Meier, opens as a visitor center in New Harmony, Indiana.

Buildings completed

• Brønnøysund Bridge, Norway.
• Parque Central Complex, Caracas, Venezuela, the tallest building in South America.
• The Tower of Europe in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
• Vienna International Centre, for the United Nations Office at Vienna.
• Rio de Janeiro Cathedral (Catedral Metropolitana do Rio de Janeiro), with 64 meter (210 ft) tall stained glass windows.
• Hedmark Museum, Hamar, Norway, designed by Sverre Fehn.

Events

• December - The Twentieth Century Society established as The Thirties Society in the United Kingdom as an architectural conservation pressure group.
• Pritzker Prize instituted by Jay A. Pritzker.
• Construction begins at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center designed by I. M. Pei.
• Xanadu House design started.
• Construction of the 360 foot (110m) communications mast atop the North Tower (1WTC) of the World Trade Center is completed.

Awards

• American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medal – I. M. Pei.
• AIA Gold Medal - I. M. Pei.
• Architecture Firm Award - Geddes Brecher Qualls Cunningham.
• Grand prix national de l'architecture - Claude Parent.
• Pritzker Prize - Philip Johnson.
• RAIA Gold Medal - Bryce Mortlock.
• RIBA Royal Gold Medal - Charles and Ray Eames.
• Twenty-five Year Award - Yale University Art Gallery.

Deaths

• July 13 - Juraj Neidhardt, Croatian architect, teacher, urban planner and writer (born 1899)
• October 11 - Roger Hayward, US artist, architect, optical designer and astronomer (born 1899)
• December 31 - Charles Draper Faulkner, Chicago-based architect (born 1890)