2 famed architects left their mark in Dayton
Both lived extraordinary long lives; both left extraordinary legacies throughout the world; both left their mark in Dayton.
Two Dayton architectural landmarks recently received renewed acclaim when their designing architects passed away: I. M. Pei and Cesar Pélli.
Born in China in 1917, I. M. Pei was 102 years old when he died in Manhattan on May 16, 2019. Cesar Pélli was born in Argentina in 1927 and was 92 years old when he died in New Haven on July 19, 2019. Both lived extraordinary long lives; both left extraordinary legacies throughout the world; both left their mark in Dayton.
I.M. Pei designed the building at the northeast corner of Third and Main streets, presently known as the PNC Bank Building. It’s a historic building at a historic location. Previously at that corner was the Callahan Building, later known as the Gem City Building, which is often described as Dayton’s first skyscraper. It was home to my law firm for 30 years, from 1938 to 1968. Atop that building was its famous clock, which was later moved to the top of the old Reynolds & Reynolds headquarters building; now its final resting place is on top of the relatively new Brethen Tower at Carillon Historical Park.
When the plans were announced in 1978 to raze the Callahan Building, the developers hired the world-famous architect, I.M. Pei, to design a building that would have its own iconic place in Dayton’s history. And, iconic it was, and still is. Its pyramid glass top reminds us of the pyramid glass top of the Louvre Museum in Paris, and the double-pyramid glass top of the Rock & Roll Museum in Cleveland. These buildings were all designed by I. M. Pei. who seemed to love a variety of glass-filled geometric shapes as his design trademark.
The Rike’s Department Store at Second and Main streets in downtown Dayton was an iconic shopping center that was a noon-day magnet for me in the early 1970s and 1980s as I often shopped for bargains and dined in one of the retailer’s many restaurants. When it was dramatically imploded in 1999, Cesar Pélli was selected to design its replacement.
This became the equally famous Benjamin & Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center. It’s a wonderful facility, especially its Wintergarden and its Mead Theater with the “Starlight” dome that sparkles with the vision of Dayton’s night sky on the night of the Wright brothers’ First Flight.
Pélli is famous for many buildings around the world, but his most famous building, of course, would be the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia. These twin towers are each 88 stories tall and are connected by a double-decked skybridge on the 41st and 42nd floors.
Closer to Dayton, Pélli’s Aronoff Center in Cincinnati has a number of similarities to the Schuster Center, especially in its color selection of wood and fabric, but it does not have the local charm that the Starlight dome brings to Dayton’s Schuster Center auditorium.
Both of these Dayton buildings are important points of light in the portfolios of these architects. More importantly, they are bright stars in the continuing legacy of our community. These two buildings have captured the brilliance of these architects and their contributions to our history and experience. We are richer to have them with us.