The year 1938 in architecture involved some significant events.

Events

* First woman elected to

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three supp ...

, Josephine Miller.

Buildings and structures

Buildings opened

* July –

Saltdean Lido Saltdean Lido at Saltdean Park Road, Saltdean, in the Brighton and Hove district, in the ceremonial county of East Sussex, England, is an Art Deco lido designed by architect R.W.H. Jones. Originally listed at Grade II by English Heritage for it ...

and Ocean Hotel,

Saltdean Saltdean is a coastal village in the city of Brighton and Hove, with part (known as East Saltdean) outside the city boundary in Lewes district. Saltdean is approximately east of central Brighton, west of Newhaven, and south of Lewes. It is ...

, East Sussex, England, both designed by R.W.H. Jones. *

October 22 Events Pre-1600 * 451 – The Chalcedonian Creed, regarding the divine and human nature of Jesus, is adopted by the Council of Chalcedon, an ecumenical council. * 794 – Emperor Kanmu relocates the Japanese capital to Heian-kyō (no ...

–

Oxford Playhouse Oxford Playhouse is a theatre designed by Edward Maufe and F.G.M. Chancellor. It is situated in Beaumont Street, Oxford, opposite the Ashmolean Museum. History The Playhouse was founded as ''The Red Barn'' at 12 Woodstock Road, North Oxfo ...

, Oxford, England, designed by

Edward Maufe Sir Edward Brantwood Maufe, RA, FRIBA (12 December 1882 – 12 December 1974) was an English architect and designer. He built private homes as well as commercial and institutional buildings, and is remembered chiefly for his work on places ...

. *

October 29 Events Pre-1600 * 312 – Constantine the Great enters Rome after his victory at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, stages a grand '' adventus'' in the city, and is met with popular jubilation. Maxentius' body is fished out of the Tiber an ...

–

City Hall, Norwich Norwich City Hall is an Art Deco building completed in 1938 which houses the city hall for the city of Norwich, East Anglia, in Eastern England. It is one of the Norwich 12, a collection of twelve heritage buildings in Norwich deemed of parti ...

, England, designed by C. H. James and S. R. Pierce. *

November 14 Events Pre-1600 1601–1900 *1680 – German astronomer Gottfried Kirch discovers the Great Comet of 1680, the first comet to be discovered by telescope. *1770 – James Bruce discovers what he believes to be the source of the Nile. ...

–

Lions Gate Bridge The Lions Gate Bridge, opened in 1938 and officially known as the First Narrows Bridge, is a suspension bridge that crosses the first narrows of Burrard Inlet and connects the City of Vancouver, British Columbia, to the North Shore municipal ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Buildings completed

Palace of Fine and Decorative Arts Treasure Island CA1

Walter Gropius photo Gropius house Lincoln MA

* The

Reich Chancellery The Reich Chancellery (german: Reichskanzlei) was the traditional name of the office of the Chancellor of Germany (then called ''Reichskanzler'') in the period of the German Reich from 1878 to 1945. The Chancellery's seat, selected and prepared ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, designed by Albert Speer (rebuilt). * Great Mosque of Asmara in Italian Eritrea, designed by Guido Ferrazza. * Church of the Epiphany, Gipton, Leeds, England, designed by

Nugent Cachemaille-Day Nugent Francis Cachemaille-Day (1896–1976), often referred to as NF Cachemaille-Day, was an English architect who designed some of the most "revolutionary" 20th-century churches in the country. His Church of St Nicholas, Burnage has been c ...

. *

Metro Theatre (Toronto) The Metro Theatre was an adult movie theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located at 677 Bloor Street, it was open ten hours a day throughout the entire week before its closure in 2013. Built in 1938, it is one of the several Art Deco theatres ...

, designed by Kaplan and Sprachman. * Finsbury Health Centre, London, designed by

Berthold Lubetkin Berthold Romanovich Lubetkin (14 December 1901 – 23 October 1990) was a Georgian-British architect who pioneered modernist design in Britain in the 1930s. His work includes the Highpoint housing complex, the Penguin Pool at London Zoo, Fins ...

and the Tecton Group. * Metropolitan Water Board Laboratories, London, designed by Howard Robertson. * Palace of Fine and Decorative Arts, Treasure Island, San Francisco Bay, California, USA, designed by George W. Kelham and William Peyton Day. * Palace of Justice, Lima, Peru. * City Hall, Mar del Plata, Argentina, designed by Alejandro Bustillo. *

Manchester Town Hall Extension Manchester Town Hall Extension was built between 1934 and 1938 to provide additional accommodation for local government services. It was built between St Peter's Square, Manchester, St Peter's Square and Lloyd Street in Manchester city centre, ...

, England, designed by

Vincent Harris Emanuel Vincent Harris (26 June 1876 – 1 August 1971), often known as E. Vincent Harris, was an English architect who designed several important public buildings in traditional styles. Early life He was born in Devonport, Devon, and e ...

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith becomes the first Director-General. * January 7 ...

. *

São Bento Palace São Bento Palace ( pt, Palácio de São Bento, italic=no "Saint Benedict's Palace") in Lisbon is the seat of the Assembly of the Portuguese Republic, the parliament of Portugal. Originally constructed in 1598, São Bento has served as the seat ...

, Lisbon, Portugal. *

Kröller-Müller Museum The Kröller-Müller Museum () is a national art museum and sculpture garden, located in the Hoge Veluwe National Park in Otterlo in the Netherlands. The museum, founded by art collector Helene Kröller-Müller within the extensive grounds of ...

Otterlo Otterlo is a village in the municipality of Ede of province of Gelderland in the Netherlands, in or near the Nationaal Park De Hoge Veluwe. The Kröller-Müller Museum, named after Helene Kröller-Müller, is situated nearby and has the world's ...

, Netherlands, designed by

Henry van de Velde Henry Clemens van de Velde (; 3 April 1863 – 15 October 1957) was a Belgian painter, architect, interior designer, and art theorist. Together with Victor Horta and Paul Hankar, he is considered one of the founders of Art Nouveau in Belgium ...

. *

Helsinki Olympic Stadium The Helsinki Olympic Stadium ( fi, Helsingin Olympiastadion; sv, Helsingfors Olympiastadion), located in the Töölö district about from the centre of the Finnish capital Helsinki, is the largest stadium in the country, nowadays mainly used ...

, Finland, designed by Yrjö Lindegren and Toivo Jäntti. * Brackenfell (house),

Brampton, Carlisle Brampton is a market town, civil parish and electoral ward within the City of Carlisle district of Cumbria, England, about east of Carlisle and south of Hadrian's Wall. Historically part of Cumberland, it is situated off the A69 road whic ...

, England, designed by

Leslie Martin Sir John Leslie Martin (17 August 1908, in Manchester – 28 July 2000) was an English architect, and a leading advocate of the International Style. Martin's most famous building is the Royal Festival Hall. His work was especially influence ...

and Sadie Speight. * The Homewood (house) near

Esher Esher ( ) is a town in Surrey, England, to the east of the River Mole. Esher is an outlying suburb of London near the London-Surrey Border, and with Esher Commons at its southern end, the town marks one limit of the Greater London Built-Up ...

, Surrey, England, designed by

Patrick Gwynne (Alban) Patrick Gwynne (1913 – 2003) was a British modernist architect with Welsh roots, best known for designing and building The Homewood, which he left to the National Trust in 2003. Early life and work Gwynne was born in Portchester, Hamps ...

(for his parents). *

Charters House Charters House is a Grade II listed building overlooking Sunningdale, Berkshire, built in 1938. The architects were George Adie and H. G. Hammond of Adie, Button and Partners. Charters was built for the industrialist Frank Parkinson on the site ...

, Berkshire, England, designed by

Adie, Button and Partners Adie, Button and Partners was a British firm of architects, best known for designing the Grade II* listed Stockwell Garage, a large bus depot in Stockwell, London, which opened in 1952 and is still in use. It was founded by George Adie and Fre ...

. * Hamstone House, St George's Hill, Weybridge, Surrey, designed by Ian Forbes. * Middleton Park, Oxfordshire, England, the last great country house designed by Edwin Lutyens (with his son Robert). * Houses in Hampshire, Sussex and at

Eton, Berkshire Eton ( ) is a town in Berkshire, England, on the opposite bank of the River Thames to Windsor, connected to it by Windsor Bridge. The civil parish, which also includes the village of Eton Wick two miles west of the town, had a population of 4 ...

in England by

Marcel Breuer Marcel Lajos Breuer ( ; 21 May 1902 – 1 July 1981), was a Hungarian-born modernist architect and furniture designer. At the Bauhaus he designed the Wassily Chair and the Cesca Chair, which ''The New York Times'' have called some of the most i ...

and F. R. S. Yorke. *

Gropius House The Gropius House is a historic house museum owned by Historic New England located at 68 Baker Bridge Road in Lincoln, Massachusetts, United States.

Lincoln, Massachusetts Lincoln is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. The population was 7,014 according to the 2020 United States Census, including residents of Hanscom Air Force Base that live within town limits. The town, loc ...

, designed by

Walter Gropius Walter Adolph Georg Gropius (18 May 1883 – 5 July 1969) was a German-American architect and founder of the Bauhaus School, who, along with Alvar Aalto, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright, is widely regarded as one ...

with Marcel Breuer. * Belvedere Court (apartments) in

East Finchley East Finchley is an area in North London, immediately north of Hampstead Heath. Like neighbouring Muswell Hill it straddles the London Boroughs of Barnet and Haringey, with most of East Finchley falling into the London Borough of Barnet. It ha ...

, London, designed by Ernst L. Freud. * Josephine M. Hagerty House,

Cohasset, Massachusetts Cohasset is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census the population was 8,381. History Cohasset was inhabited for thousands of years by Native Americans prior to European colonization, from whom English c ...

, designed by Walter Gropius with Marcel Breuer. * Luma Tower, built as British Luma Co-Operative Electric Lamp factory,

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, designed by Cornelius Armour. *

Fiat Tagliero Building The Fiat Tagliero Building is a Futurist-style service station in Asmara, Eritrea. It was completed in 1938 and designed by the Italian engineer Giuseppe Pettazzi. Historical background The Fiat Tagliero is noted as one of the foremost Art De ...

, Asmara, Italian Eritrea, designed by Giuseppe Pettazzi.

Other

* Construction work begins on **

Mark Keppel High School Mark Keppel High School (MKHS) is a four-year California Distinguished School located in the city of Alhambra, California, in the Alhambra Unified School District. The school is on the southern edge of Alhambra, adjacent to the city of Monterey Pa ...

Alhambra, California Alhambra (, , ; from "Alhambra") is a city located in the western San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, United States, approximately eight miles from the Downtown Los Angeles civic center. It was incorporated on July 11 ...

, designed by Marston & Maybury. **

Council House, Bristol City Hall (formerly the Council House) has been the seat of local government in Bristol, United Kingdom, since 1956 (before then the seat was in the Old Council House on Corn Street). It is situated on College Green, opposite the Cathedral a ...

, England, designed by

Publications

Lewis Mumford Lewis Mumford (October 19, 1895 – January 26, 1990) was an American historian, sociologist, philosopher of technology, and literary critic. Particularly noted for his study of cities and urban architecture, he had a broad career as a w ...

– ''The Culture of Cities''

Awards

AIA Gold Medal The AIA Gold Medal is awarded by the American Institute of Architects conferred "by the national AIA Board of Directors in recognition of a significant body of work of lasting influence on the theory and practice of architecture." It is the Ins ...

–

Paul Philippe Cret Paul Philippe Cret (October 23, 1876 – September 8, 1945) was a French-born Philadelphia architect and industrial designer. For more than thirty years, he taught at a design studio in the Department of Architecture at the University of Pennsylv ...

RIBA The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three supp ...

Royal Gold Medal The Royal Gold Medal for architecture is awarded annually by the Royal Institute of British Architects on behalf of the British monarch, in recognition of an individual's or group's substantial contribution to international architecture. It is gi ...

–

Ivar Tengbom Ivar Justus Tengbom (April 7, 1878 – August 6, 1968) was a Swedish architect and one of the best-known representatives of the Swedish neo-classical architecture of the 1910s and 1920s. Tengbom was born in Vireda in Jönköping County, stu ...

Grand Prix de Rome The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...

, architecture: Henry Bernard

Births

April 16 Events Pre-1600 * 1457 BC – Battle of Megido - the first battle to have been recorded in what is accepted as relatively reliable detail. * 69 – Defeated by Vitellius' troops at Bedriacum, Otho commits suicide. * 73 – Masad ...

– Wolf Hilbertz, German-born futurist architect, inventor and marine scientist ( died 2007) *

May 12 Events Pre-1600 * 254 – Pope Stephen I succeeds Pope Lucius I, becoming the 23rd pope of the Catholic Church, and immediately takes a stand against Novatianism. * 907 – Zhu Wen forces Emperor Ai into abdicating, ending the Tang d ...

– Terry Farrell, English architect, designer of the

KK100 The KK100 (), formerly known as Kingkey 100 and Kingkey Finance Tower, is a supertall skyscraper in Shenzhen, Guangdong. Location It is located on Shennan East Road and within Caiwuwei, an area often described as the 'financial district' of ...

and

SIS Building The SIS Building or MI6 Building at Vauxhall Cross houses the headquarters of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS, MI6), the United Kingdom's foreign intelligence agency. It is located at 85 Albert Embankment in Vauxhall, a south western pa ...

July 10 Events Pre-1600 * 138 – Emperor Hadrian of Rome dies of heart failure at his residence on the bay of Naples, Baiae; he is buried at Rome in the Tomb of Hadrian beside his late wife, Vibia Sabina. * 645 – Isshi Incident: Prin ...

–

Paul Andreu Paul Andreu (10 July 1938 – 11 October 2018) was a French architect, known for his designs of multiple airports such as Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, and multiple prestigious projects in China, including the National Centre for the Per ...

, French airport architect ( died 2018) *

July 14 Events Pre-1600 * 982 – King Otto II and his Frankish army are defeated by the Muslim army of al-Qasim at Cape Colonna, Southern Italy. * 1223 – Louis VIII becomes King of France upon the death of his father, Philip II. * 142 ...

–

Moshe Safdie Moshe Safdie ( he, משה ספדיה; born July 14, 1938) is an architect, urban planner, educator, theorist, and author, with Israeli, Canadian, and American citizenship. He is known for incorporating principles of socially responsible des ...

, Israeli/Canadian architect, urban designer, educator, theorist and author *

September 3 Events Pre-1600 *36 BC – In the Battle of Naulochus, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, admiral of Octavian, defeats Sextus Pompey, son of Pompey, thus ending Pompeian resistance to the Second Triumvirate. * 301 – San Marino, one of the ...

–

Richard MacCormac Sir Richard Cornelius MacCormac CBE, PPRIBA, FRSA, RA (3 September 1938 – 26 July 2014), was a modernist English architect and the founder of MJP Architects. Early life and background Richard Cornelius MacCormac was born in Marylebone, ...

, British architect ( died 2014) *

November 30 Events Pre-1600 * 978 – Franco-German war of 978–980: Holy Roman Emperor Otto II lifts the siege of Paris and withdraws. 1601–1900 *1707 – Queen Anne's War: The second Siege of Pensacola comes to end with the failure of the Br ...

–

Andrea Branzi Andrea Branzi (, born November 30, 1938) is a Florence-born Italian architect and designer. He currently lives and works in Milan and was a professor and chairman of the School of Interior Design at the Polytechnic University of Milan until 2009. ...

, Italian architect and designer * December 30 – Susan Maxman, née Abel, American architect Theodor-fischer-1933

Deaths

* February 25 – W. D. Caröe, English-born ecclesiastical architect (born 1857) *

July 2 Events Pre-1600 * 437 – Emperor Valentinian III begins his reign over the Western Roman Empire. His mother Galla Placidia ends her regency, but continues to exercise political influence at the court in Rome. * 626 – Li Shimin, t ...

–

John James Burnet Sir John James Burnet (31 May 1857 – 2 July 1938) was a Scottish Edwardian architect who was noted for a number of prominent buildings in Glasgow and London. He was the son of the architect John Burnet, and later went into partnership with ...

, Scottish architect (born 1857) *

October 30 Events Pre-1600 * 637 – Arab–Byzantine wars: Antioch surrenders to the Rashidun Caliphate after the Battle of the Iron Bridge. * 758 – Guangzhou is sacked by Arab and Persian pirates. *1137 – Ranulf of Apulia defeats Ro ...

– Charles Klauder, American architect (born

1872 Events January–March * January 12 – Yohannes IV is crowned Emperor of Ethiopia in Axum, the first ruler crowned in that city in over 500 years. * February 2 – The government of the United Kingdom buys a number of forts on ...

) *

December 24 Events Pre-1600 * 502 – Chinese emperor Xiao Yan names Xiao Tong his heir designate. * 640 – Pope John IV is elected, several months after his predecessor's death. * 759 – Tang dynasty poet Du Fu departs for Chengdu, whe ...

–

Bruno Taut Bruno Julius Florian Taut (4 May 1880 – 24 December 1938) was a renowned German architect, urban planner and author of Prussian Lithuanian heritage ("taut" means "nation" in Lithuanian). He was active during the Weimar period and is know ...

, German-born architect and urban planner (born

1880 Events January–March * January 22 – Toowong State School is founded in Queensland, Australia. * January – The international White slave trade affair scandal in Brussels is exposed and attracts international infamy. * February � ...

) *

December 25 Events Pre-1600 * 36 – Forces of Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han, under the command of Wu Han, conquer the separatist Chengjia empire, reuniting China. * 274 – A temple to Sol Invictus is dedicated in Rome by Emperor Aureli ...

–

Theodor Fischer Theodor Fischer (28 May 1862 – 25 December 1938) was a German architect and teacher. Career Fischer planned public housing projects for the city of Munich beginning in 1893. He was the joint founder and first chairman of the Deutscher Wer ...

, German architect (born 1862)

References

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