Cesar Pelli

Arguably the greatest colorist in contemporary architecture, Argentine-born Cesar Pelli bridges modern and postmodern design in his work.

Balthazar Korab, an architect-turned-photographer with a wide-ranging eye whose moody, polished images captured the spirit of midcentury modern architecture and celebrated its masters, including Eero Saarinen and Mies van der Rohe, died Jan. 15 in Royal Oak, Mich. He was 86. Korab, who lived in Troy, Mich., died after a long period of decline caused by Parkinson's disease and a stroke, said his son, Christian Korab. A refugee from Communist-controlled Hungary, Korab came to the United States in 1955 and found work as a designer in Saarinen's Bloomfield, Mich., office.

Cesar Pelli's third project for the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, the so-called Red Building, was conceived as part of the original site plan in the 1970s, and since then it has been postponed, redesigned and nearly forgotten. But it appears finally to be on track, with construction set to start early next year, according to developer Charles S. Cohen. At a noon news conference Thursday, Pelli and Cohen will unveil what they're calling the final version of the $100-million design.

After spending countless hours poring over images of architectural follies from around the world, L.A.-based architects Frank Escher and Ravi GuneWardena weren't content with merely displaying their selections for "Folly -- The View From Nowhere," at MOCA Pacific Design Center; they had to design their own. "Folly I," a behemoth structure constructed inside the exhibit space, offers a mock 360-degree view of L.A. Organized along with MOCA...

Orange County will add an unusual new building to its skyline--which some critics have called boring and mundane--with the addition next year of a 21-story, stainless steel office tower near South Coast Plaza that was designed by renowned architect Cesar Pelli. Pelli, who recently designed what could become the world's tallest skyscraper in Chicago, Tuesday unveiled a model of the new Costa Mesa building, which is being jointly developed by the Segerstrom family and IBM Corp.

"Come in, because it feels quite wonderful inside." Architect Cesar Pelli, leading a tour of the new Plaza Tower office building in Costa Mesa, ushered his followers into one of the tower's lacewood-paneled elevators--not to go anywhere, just to appreciate the design. The internationally known architect's first project in Orange County was given an official christening Wednesday, although major tenant and part-owner International Business Machines began moving into the building last month.

Kimmel architect: An article in Saturday's Calendar section about Southern California arts institutions refinancing their construction debt said the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia was designed by Cesar Pelli. The architect was Rafael Vinoly.

Congrats to the South Coast Repertory Board of Directors for selecting Cesar Pelli as the architect for the upcoming expansion. I hope they will continue to show how smart they are by insisting he incorporate more ladies restrooms in his design. (From one who has had to wait for, as well as listen to, my bride's complaints.) HOWARD F. EATON Mission Viejo

A developer wants to turn the Sears Tower into the world's second-tallest building. Miglin-Beitler Developments Inc. announced plans Monday for a slender, 125-story skyscraper resembling a rocket emerging from the Loop. The 1,914-foot structure would eclipse by 400 feet the Sears Tower. The developer did not say how much the concrete and steel-reinforced skyscraper would cost. Plans have been submitted to the Chicago Planning Commission. Construction could begin by December and could be completed by mid-1992, the developer said.

125-Story Skyscraper Proposed: Miglin-Beitler Developments Inc., a major developer of offices in Chicago and its suburbs, announced plans to build a 1,914-foot downtown skyscraper--nearly 400 feet taller than the 110-story Sears Tower, which rises 1,522 feet with its antenna and has been the tallest building since its completion in 1974. Miglin-Beitler presented its plans to the city's planning department last week and hopes to get approval in time to start construction in December.

Kimmel architect: An article in Saturday's Calendar section about Southern California arts institutions refinancing their construction debt said the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia was designed by Cesar Pelli. The architect was Rafael Vinoly.

The Orange County Performing Arts Center sued star architect Cesar Pelli and construction giant Fluor Corp., blaming them and subcontractors for more than $30 million in cost overruns and irremediable design flaws in the new Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa. The hall, which opened 11 months ago, has been celebrated as a landmark performance space that brings new intimacy and sonic fidelity to the concert experience in Orange County.

WHEN architect Cesar Pelli was designing a skyscraper in Minneapolis in the 1980s, he asked his client to reduce its height so it wouldn't become the tallest building on the skyline. The local spirit of modesty and deference, he explained, made that seem inappropriate -- and his corporate client bought the pitch.

Cesar Pelli's third project for the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, the so-called Red Building, was conceived as part of the original site plan in the 1970s, and since then it has been postponed, redesigned and nearly forgotten. But it appears finally to be on track, with construction set to start early next year, according to developer Charles S. Cohen. At a noon news conference Thursday, Pelli and Cohen will unveil what they're calling the final version of the $100-million design.

They're seeing red over the newest mega-construction project planned for West Hollywood. And they couldn't be happier. The red in this case is the glistening color proposed for a building that will complete the landmark Pacific Design Center, which for nearly three decades has been a showcase for fine furnishings -- and for bold, modern architecture.

Since first opening in 1986, the Orange County Performing Arts Center has always seemed the poor second cousin to the Music Center in downtown Los Angeles. Its resident music companies lack big-city stature. Its location in a suburban office park across the street from South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa gives it the air of an upscale mall, as if culture were a superfluous appendage to shopping.

My views as presented in Leon Whiteson's article ("Skyscrapers: From Here to Eternity," March 27) are correct on the general issues, but not as they address Donald Trump's proposed project for the Ambassador Hotel site. I do not remember ever being interviewed on the matter, of which I know very little. If these comments were taken from the question and answer session after my recent lecture at Cal Poly Pomona in Los Angeles, then my views were part of a general exchange in which the audience had much more to say than I did on the matter.

After spending countless hours poring over images of architectural follies from around the world, L.A.-based architects Frank Escher and Ravi GuneWardena weren't content with merely displaying their selections for "Folly -- The View From Nowhere," at MOCA Pacific Design Center; they had to design their own. "Folly I," a behemoth structure constructed inside the exhibit space, offers a mock 360-degree view of L.A. Organized along with MOCA...

Congrats to the South Coast Repertory Board of Directors for selecting Cesar Pelli as the architect for the upcoming expansion. I hope they will continue to show how smart they are by insisting he incorporate more ladies restrooms in his design. (From one who has had to wait for, as well as listen to, my bride's complaints.) HOWARD F. EATON Mission Viejo

South Coast Repertory's board of directors has given formal approval to the theater company's proposed expansion and voted unanimously to hire renowned architect Cesar Pelli to begin designs for the project. "We're hopeful that by late spring, Pelli and his associates would be in a position to present to the board their design concept and its estimated cost," SCR producing artistic director David Emmes said Thursday. The board votes came Wednesday night on the heels of a $1.