The Architect

Cesar Pelli & Associates was selected to design the Connecticut Science Center, September 2004, after a competition among architects from around the world. Mr. Pelli, whose offices are in New Haven, proposed a building concept that is strongly reflected in the final design of the Center.  

“The Connecticut Science Center will be a building that will communicate the excitement of science to the surrounding streets, river, and highway. The forms are ambitious and dynamic. They appear to reach out, beyond their physical limits.”  

Cesar Pelli was born in Argentina where he earned a Diploma in Architecture from the University of Tucuman. He first worked in the offices of Eero Saarinen serving as Project Designer for several buildings. He then was Director of Design at DMJM and, later, Partner for Design at Gruen Associates, both in Los Angeles. In 1977, Mr. Pelli became Dean of the Yale University School of Architecture and also founded Cesar Pelli & Associates.

Mr. Pelli established Cesar Pelli & Associates in New Haven, Connecticut in 1977 following his appointment at Yale. Fred Clarke is also a founding member of the firm and has been a Principal since 1981. Rafael Pelli has been a Principal since 1993. A New York office was established in 2000.

Cesar Pelli & Associates is a full service architectural practice that has worked with corporate, government and private clients to design major public spaces, museums, airports, laboratories, performing arts centers, academic buildings, hotels, office and residential towers and mixed-use projects. The number of commissions the firm accepts is carefully limited to ensure a high degree of personal involvement by the Principals.

The firm has designed several exceptional buildings in the United States and abroad, including the World Financial Center in New York City; International Finance Center in Hong Kong; Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center at Vassar College; Petronas Towers and Dewan Filharmonik Hall in Kuala Lumpur; and the National Museum of Art in Osaka, Japan.

Mr. Pelli believes that buildings should be responsible citizens and that the aesthetic qualities of a building should grow from the specific characteristics of each project such as its location, its construction technology and its purpose.

He has received numerous honorary degrees and awards, and is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, a Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the National Academy of Design, the International Academy of Architecture, and of l'Academie d'Architecture de France. The American Institute of Architects awarded Cesar Pelli the 1995 Gold Medal, which recognizes a lifetime of distinguished achievement and outstanding contributions.