1979 in architecture

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

Buildings opened

 * 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.
 * Bauhaus Archive, West Berlin, Germany, designed by Alexander Cvijanović with Hans Bandel after Walter Gropius.
 * "Stars" housing estate, Katowice, Poland.

Events

 * December: The Thirties Society (now the Twentieth Century Society) established 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 (110 m) 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

 * April 6 – Ivan Vasilyov, Bulgarian architect (born 1893)
 * 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 8 – Sydney Ancher, Australian architect (born 1904)
 * December 31 – Charles Draper Faulkner, Chicago-based architect (born 1890)