Building Safety Month

Deck Safety Month

The Midweek Meander's Anniversary

May 6

• 1782 – Construction began on the Grand Palace in Bangkok, ordered by King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke, establishing the core royal complex of Rattanakosin (Bangkok).
• 1889 – The Eiffel Tower was officially opened to the public at the Exposition Universelle in Paris, cementing it as a symbol of modern engineering and the city itself.
• 1682 – Louis XIV moved the French royal court to Versailles, transforming the palace into the permanent political center of France and a defining model of Baroque palace planning.

May 13

• 1951 – Wayfarers Chapel (“the glass church”) in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, designed by Lloyd Wright (Frank Lloyd Wright Jr.), was dedicated overlooking the Pacific coast.

• Pancho Guedes (b. May 13, 1925) – Portuguese architect and artist known for highly imaginative, hybrid modernist works, particularly in Mozambique.
• Ruth Adler Schnee (b. May 13, 1923) – German‑born American textile and interior designer based in Michigan, noted for mid‑century modern printed textiles and interior commissions.
• Georges Braque (b. May 13, 1882) – French painter and sculptor, co‑founder of Cubism; his work significantly influenced 20th‑century art, design, and architectural thinking about form and fragmentation.

• Joseph Gilet (d. May 13, 1943) – French architect educated at the École des Beaux‑Arts in Toulouse and Paris, active primarily in Toulouse and associated with Louis Berty and later his son Jean‑Louis Gilet.
• Will Alsop (d. announced May 13, 2018) – British architect celebrated as a “true free spirit,” known for bold, colorful works such as Peckham Library in London and the Sharp Centre for Design at OCAD University in Toronto.

May 20 

• William Thornton (b. May 20, 1759, Tortola) – British‑born American architect, physician, inventor, painter, and first Architect of the Capitol; best known for the original design of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.
• Dieter Rams (b. May 20, 1932, Wiesbaden) – German industrial designer whose work for Braun and Vitsoe codified principles of functionalist product design that strongly influenced late‑20th‑century design and, indirectly, architectural minimalism.

• Arthur Erickson (d. May 20, 2009, Vancouver) – Canadian architect renowned for powerful concrete and landscape‑integrated work, including Robson Square and the University of British Columbia Museum of Anthropology; he received the AIA Gold Medal in 1986.

May 27

• 1930 – The Chrysler Building in New York City opened to the public, briefly becoming the tallest man‑made structure in the world and a defining Art Deco skyscraper.
• 1937 – The Golden Gate Bridge opened to pedestrians in San Francisco; about 200,000 people walked across the span on its first public day.
• 1703 – Tsar Peter the Great founded Saint Petersburg, later developed as Russia’s “window to the West,” with a powerful legacy in urban and architectural history.
• 1895 – Ground was broken for the Majestic Building in Detroit, an early high‑rise whose Beaux‑Arts interiors showcased opulent finishes and tall, daylight‑driven office spaces.

• Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (b. May 27, 1886) – German‑American modernist architect whose work and teaching (especially at IIT) defined an international steel‑and‑glass vocabulary often summarized as “less is more.”
• Henry Hohauser (b. May 27, 1895) – New York–born architect who became a leading figure of Miami Beach Art Deco, designing hundreds of streamlined hotels, theaters, and apartments that now anchor the city’s historic district.
• William R. Ware (b. May 27, 1832) – American architect and educator who founded the first formal architecture program in the United States at MIT and later led Columbia University’s architecture school.
• George Clarke (b. May 27, 1974) – British architect, TV presenter, lecturer, and writer known for bringing residential design and housing issues to a broad public audience.

• Massimo Vignelli (d. May 27, 2014) – Italian designer whose graphic, product, and information design (including signage systems and architectural monographs) shaped modern visual identities and wayfinding for buildings and cities.