Born in Argentina, César Pelli had one of the most illustrious careers of any American architect of the last century: He worked for Eero Saarinen on the celebrated TWA Flight Center. He was dean of the Yale School of Architecture. He designed landmarks on four continents, including the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, the tallest buildings in the world when they were completed in 1999; the World Financial Center in New York; three towers in Spain; and the Gran Torre Santiago, the tallest building in South America. 

If he never attained renown as a great form-maker, he appears not to have minded. Pelli, who died on Friday, July 19, at the age of 92, saw architecture less as an outlet for personal expression than as a way to make a mark on cities. Friends described him as quite satisfied with his place in the profession, not pining for starchitect status.