The year 1888 in architecture involved some significant architectural events and new buildings.

Events

• Roof and dome of Seville Cathedral collapse in an earthquake.
• Friedrich von Schmidt is ennobled.

Buildings and structures

Buildings opened

• January 5 – The Neues deutsches Theater, Prague, designed by Fellner & Helmer with Baron Karl von Hasenauer and Alfons Wertmüller.
• April 11 – The Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, designed by Adolf Leonard van Gendt.^[1]
• May – Victoria Terminus station building, designed by Frederick William Stevens for the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, in Bombay's Bori Bunder district (modern-day: Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Mumbai).
• August 12 – Plaza de Toros de El Bibio, Gijón, Asturias, Spain.^[2]
• August 17 – Castle of the Three Dragons for 1888 Barcelona Universal Exposition, Spain, designed by Lluís Domènech i Montaner.^[3]
• August 18 – Frankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhof, designed by Hermann Eggert and Johann Wilhelm Schwedler.
• September 20 – Ghazanchetsots Cathedral (Armenian Apostolic Church), designed by Simon Ter-Hakobian(ts).
• October 2 – Annunciation Cathedral, Kharkiv, Ukraine, designed by Mikhail Lovtsov.
• October 4 – Princes Bridge, Melbourne, Australia, designed by John Harry Grainger.
• October 14 – Burgtheater, Ringstraße, Vienna, designed by Gottfried Semper and Baron Karl von Hasenauer.
• October 20 – Zappeion, Athens, designed by Theophil Hansen.
• Autumn – Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA (as the "Georgia School of Technology"), with Tech Tower used for classrooms.^[4]

Buildings completed

• St. Anne's Church, Bukit Mertajam, Malaysia.
• Cathedral of Melo, Uruguay.
• Conquest Plantation, Pointe Coupee, Louisiana, USA, built in Victorian style.
• Illinois State Capitol, Springfield, Illinois, USA.
• Ponce de León Hotel, St. Augustine, Florida, USA, designed by John Carrere and Thomas Hastings.
• Texas State Capitol, Austin, Texas, USA, designed by Elijah E. Myers.
• Allegheny County Courthouse, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, designed by H.H. Richardson.
• High Royds Hospital (West Riding Pauper Lunatic Asylum) near Leeds, England, designed by J. Vickers Edwards.
• Several buildings for the International Exhibition of Science, Art and Industry held in Glasgow, key architect being James Sellars.
• Elizabeth Plankinton House, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, designed by E. Townsend Mix.
• Casino Notabile, Mdina, Malta, designed by Webster Paulson.

Awards

• RIBA Royal Gold Medal – Theophil Freiherr von Hansen.
• Grand Prix de Rome, architecture: Albert Tournaire.

Births

• January 20 – Léon Azéma, French architect (died 1978)^[5]
• February 6 - Romuald Gutt, Polish architect (died 1974)
• March 19 – Piero Portaluppi, Italian architect (died 1967)
• March 19 – Gordon Kaufmann, English-born US architect (died 1949)^[6]
• April 30 – Antonio Sant'Elia, Italian Futurist architectural theorist (killed in action 1916)
• June 24 – Gerrit Rietveld, Dutch furniture designer and architect (died 1964)
• August 26 – Gustavo R. Vincenti, Maltese architect and developer (died 1974)^[7]
• December 15 – Kaare Klint, Danish architect and furniture designer (died 1954)

Deaths

• January 10 – James Campbell Walker, Scottish architect (born 1821)
• March 16 – Thomas Thomas, Welsh chapel architect and minister (born 1817)
• March 25 – William Eden Nesfield, English domestic revival architect (born 1835)
• August 5 – Edmund Wright, Australian architect, engineer and businessman (born 1824)
• November 25 – Christian Jank, scenic painter and stage designer, commissioned by Ludwig II of Bavaria to create concepts for architectural projects (born 1833)^[8]