Last July, Cesar Pelli left us at the age of 92. At a memorial service at Yale’s Battell Chapel, speakers from all phases of his life all came back to the same central truth—that Cesar was a humble gentleman. He had a quiet presence, and he charmed everyone with his warmth, elegance, and sincerity.
He brought that humility to his practice. As the founder of a large firm based in New Haven and Dean of the Yale School of Architecture from 1977 to 1988, Cesar was more of a conductor than a composer. He guided and advised and taught us to continually distill and refine. Through example, he showed us that architecture is a lifelong process. I spent my earliest years with him designing the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, which began construction in 1993 and are still today the tallest twin towers in the world. During design reviews, we would present study models and numerous options, and he would frequently interrupt us, coaxing us to strive for clarity, brevity, and a clear narrative. The same rigor applied to our design thinking. It was said that if we learned how to…