Famous Architects Deaths, Architectural Career Ends, Unusual Facts
Architects Deaths – Building Designers
Key Building Designers from the past – Architecture Information
post updated 2 Feb 2021
Architect Deaths
Unusual Deaths of Architects
Antoni Gaudi
photo © Adrian Welch
Antoni Gaudi fell under a tram in Barcelona, Spain, on 9 Jun 1926. He is Spain’s most famous architectural designer.
Antoni Gaudí i Cornet (1852 – 1926) was a Catalan architect known as the greatest exponent of Catalan Modernism. Gaudí’s works have a highly individualized, sui generis style.
Most are located in Barcelona, including his main work, the church of the Sagrada Família. Gaudí’s work was influenced by his passions in life: architecture, nature, and religion.
Carlo Scarpa
photo © David Lawson
Carlo Scarpa died after falling down a flight of concrete stairs in 1978, in Sendai, Japan. He is buried standing up.
Carlo Scarpa (1906 – 1978) was an Italian architect, influenced by the materials, landscape, and the history of Venetian culture, and Japan. Scarpa translated his interests in history, regionalism, invention, and the techniques of the artist and craftsman into ingenious glass and furniture design.
Le Corbusier
building image © Rebecca Breun
Le Corbusier went for a swim in the Mediterranean Sea at Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, against his doctor’s orders, on August 27, 1965. His body was found by bathers and it is assumed he died of a heart attack.
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (1887 – 1965), known as Le Corbusier, was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer. He was one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture.
‘Corb’ was born in Switzerland and became a French citizen in 1930. His career spanned five decades, and he designed buildings in Europe, Japan, India, and North and South America.
Aldo Rossi
Aldo Rossi died in a car accident in 1997 in Milan, Italy. He was the first Italian to receive the Pritzker Prize for architecture.
Aldo Rossi (1931 – 1997) was an Italian architect and designer who achieved international recognition in four distinct areas: architectural theory, drawing and design and also product design. He was one of the leading exponents of the postmodern movement.
George Meikle Kemp
George Meikle Kemp, architect of Edinburgh’s Scott Monument, fell into a canal in the fog before his masterpiece was finished. His major work is located right in the heart of the capital city in Scotland, UK.
Selection of Current Architecture
Chelsea Barracks, London : Winning Architects Team News
image from developers
World Cup Stadiums – South Africa 2010
image : Boogertman Urban Edge and Partners / Populous
The Shard, London : exclusive photos
photo © Nick Weall
Albert Street Artwork, Brisbane : Urban Art Projects
photo © Apeture Photography
Architecture Walking Tours
photograph © Chris Romer-Lee
Comments / photos for this Architects Deaths page welcome