1872 in architecture

The year 1872 in architecture involved some significant architectural events and new buildings.

• Work begins on the building of the Church of the Holy Angels, Hoar Cross, Staffordshire, England, designed by George Frederick Bodley and Thomas Garner.

• July – The Albert Memorial in London, designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott, is opened by Queen Victoria.^[1]
• December 12 – Church of San Agustin, Laredo, Texas, is opened
• The Ancoats Hospital, an enlargement of the existing building, in Manchester, England, designed by Lewis and Crawcroft, begins construction.^[2]

• Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar, Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain (nearly two hundred years after it was begun).^[3]
• St Mary Magdalene, Paddington, London, designed by George Edmund Street, originally completed.
• St. Matthew's German Evangelical Lutheran Church, Charleston, South Carolina, designed by John Henry Devereux, dedicated.
• The Egyptian Halls, a pioneering iron-framed commercial building in Glasgow designed by Alexander Thomson.^[4]
• Palacio Federal Legislativo, Caracas, Venezuela, designed by Luciano Urdaneta.^[5]

• RIBA Royal Gold Medal – Friedrich von Schmidt.
• Grand Prix de Rome, architecture: Louis Bernier.

• January 8 – Antonio Palacios, Spanish architect (died 1945)
• January 20 – Julia Morgan, California-based architect (died 1957)
• January 23 – Jože Plečnik, Slovene architect (died 1957)
• February 9 – Charles Klauder, American architect known for university buildings (died 1938)
• May 26 – Zachary Taylor Davis, Chicago architect (died 1946)
• Clarence Perry, American town planner (died 1944)

• January 13 – William Scamp, English architect (born 1801)
• February 20 – Andrew Petrie, builder, architect and Australian pioneer (born 1798)
• June 22 – Frederick Marrable, first Chief Architect of the Metropolitan Board of Works (London) (born 1819)
• December 14 – Robert Richardson Banks, English architect, partner of Charles Barry, Jr. (born 1812)
• December 17 – William Slater, London-based architect (born 1819)^[6]