Death of Uruguayan architect Rafael Vinoly, designer of iconic skyscrapers

“On behalf of my family, my colleagues and our many partners around the world, I am saddened to announce that my father (…) passed away unexpectedly yesterday (Thursday), March 2, at the age of 78” , said his son Roman on the website of the company he founded and which is headquartered in New York.

Acclaimed and sometimes controversial, the architect born in Montevideo in 1944 leaves more than 600 works all over the world, hotels, concert halls, stadiums, and other infrastructures, such as the circular bridge over the Garzon lagoon, in Uruguay.

The English football club Manchester City, for which he designed the "City Football Academy" training center, paid tribute to him on Twitter.

But some of his projects have been controversial.

This is the case of his 426-meter-tall, 85-story luxury residential building in Manhattan, 432 Park Avenue, which is the subject of a lawsuit from its millionaire residents because of noise and vibrations. inside the apartments.

In London, the skyscraper at 20 Fenchurch Street, nicknamed "The Walkie-Talkie", which rises in the City district, made headlines in 2013 because the reflection of the sun's rays on its concave glass facade had damaged a Jaguar parked below.

Rafael Vinoly "leaves a rich legacy of unique and timeless designs that have been expressed in some of the most recognizable and iconic buildings in the world," added his son, who cites the Tokyo International Forum or the Cleveland Museum of Art.