1981 in architecture

The year 1981 in architecture involved some significant events.

Buildings

• JPMorgan Chase Tower, Houston, Texas designed by I. M. Pei is completed.
• Sydney Tower in Sydney, Australia is completed and opened.
• Colonius in Cologne, Germany is completed.
• The Riyadh TV Tower in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia is completed.
• The National Palace of Culture opens in Sofia, Bulgaria.
• Howell High School in Howell, MI is completed as the most expensive high school at the time in the State of Michigan.
• The Marriott World Trade Center originally known as the Vista Hotel, is completed in Lower Manhattan, New York as a part of the World Trade Center complex.

Awards

• AIA Gold Medal - Josep Lluís Sert.
• Architecture Firm Award - Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates.
• Grand prix national de l'architecture - Gérard Thurnauer, Pierre Riboulet and Jean-Louis Veret.
• Pritzker Prize - James Stirling.
• RAIA Gold Medal - Colin Madigan.
• RIBA Royal Gold Medal - Philip Dowson.
• Twenty-five Year Award - Farnsworth House.

Births

Deaths

• March 7 - Roy Grounds (born 1905)
• April 10 - Charles Cowles-Voysey (born 1889)
• July 1 - Marcel Breuer (born 1902)
• September 1 - Albert Speer (born 1905)
• December 2 - Wallace Harrison (born 1895)