Vedat Dalokay was born in Elazığ, Turkey, in 1927 to İbrahim Bey from Pertek. He completed his elementary and secondary education in Elazığ before earning his university degree in architecture from Istanbul Technical University in 1949. He later pursued postgraduate studies at the Institute of Urbanism and Urban Development of Sorbonne University in Paris, France, in 1952. Dalokay gained international recognition for his architectural designs, most notably the Faisal Mosque in Islamabad, Pakistan, which he designed in 1969. His design for the Kocatepe Mosque in Ankara was initially selected in a competition but was not built due to controversy; however, a modified version of the design was later used for the Faisal Mosque. In 1981, he received international acclaim for his design of the Islamic Development Bank headquarters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Tragically, on March 21, 1991, Dalokay died in a car accident along with his wife Ayça, aged 44, and his son Barış, aged 17.