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Minoru Yamasaki (山崎實, Yamasaki Minoru?, December 1, 1912 – February 7, 1986) was an American architect of Japanese descent, best known for his design of the twin towers of the World Trade Center buildings 1 and 2. Yamasaki was one of the most prominent architects of the 20th century. He and fellow architect Edward Durell Stone are generally considered to be the two master practitioners of "romanticized modernism".
Biography
Yamasaki, born in Seattle, Washington, was a second-generation Japanese American. He grew up in Auburn, Washington and attended Auburn Senior High School.[citation needed] He enrolled in the University of Washington program in architecture in 1929, and graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch.) in 1934.[1] During his college years, he was strongly encouraged by faculty member Lionel Pries. He earned money to pay for his tuition by working at an Alaskan salmon cannery.[2]
After moving to New York City in the 1930s, he enrolled at New York University for a master's degree in architecture and got a job with the architecture firm Shreve, Lamb and Harmon, designers of the Empire State Building. In 1945, Yamasaki moved to Detroit, where he was hired by Smith, Hinchman, and Grylls.[3] Yamasaki left the firm in 1949, and started his own partnership.[3] In 1964 Yamasaki received a D.F.A. from Bates College.
Yamasaki was first married in 1941 and had two other wives before marrying his first wife again in 1969. He died of stomach[citation needed] cancer in 1986. His firm, Yamasaki & Associates, closed on December 31, 2009.[4]
Works
His first significant project was the Pruitt-Igoe housing project in St. Louis, Missouri, 1955. Despite his love of Japanese traditional design, this was a stark, modernist concrete structure. The housing project experienced so many problems that it was demolished in 1972, less than twenty years after its completion. Its destruction is considered by some to be the beginning of postmodern architecture.
He also designed several "sleek" international airport buildings and was responsible for the innovative design of the 1,360 foot (415 m) towers of the World Trade Center, for which design began in 1965, and construction in 1972. Many of his buildings are loosely inspired by Gothic architecture and make use of extremely narrow vertical windows. This narrow-windowed style arose from his own personal fear of heights.[2]
Yamasaki was an original member of the Pennsylvania Avenue Commission, which was tasked with restoring the grand avenue in Washington, D.C., but resigned after disagreements and disillusionment with the design by committee approach.[5]
After teaming up with Emery Roth and Sons on the design of the World Trade Center, they teamed up again on other projects including new defense buildings at Bolling Air Force Base in Washington, D.C.[6]
Structures designed by Minoru Yamasaki
- 100 Washington Square, Minneapolis, MN, 1981
- Bank of Oklahoma, Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1977[7]
- Behavioral Sciences Building - Harvard University[1]
- Birmingham Unitarian Church, Bloomfield Hills, MI
- Carleton College buildings: Olin Hall of Science 1961, Goodhue Dormitory 1962, West Gym 1964, Cowling Rec Center 1965, Watson Hall 1966 and 1961 4th Floor addition to Myers Hall.[8]
- Century Plaza Hotel, Los Angeles, 1966
- Century Plaza Towers, Los Angeles, 1975[7]
- Columbia Center, Troy, Michigan
- College for Creative Studies Yamasaki Building, Detroit, Michigan
- Daniell Heights married student housing, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, Michigan
- Dhahran International Airport - Civil Air Terminal[1]
- Eastern Airlines Terminal, (Logan Airport Terminal A) Boston, Massachusetts[7], 1969 (Demolished 2002)[9].
- Eastern Province International Airport, Saudi Arabia, 1985[7]
- Education Building, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan
- Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond , Richmond, Virginia[7]
- Federal Science Pavilion, Century 21 (Seattle World's Fair), Seattle, 1962 (now Pacific Science Center)[1][7]
- Founder's Hall, Shinji Shumeikai, Shiga Prefecture, Japan, 1982[7]
- Gratiot Urban Redevelopment Project, Detroit, Michigan, 1954[7]
- Helen L. DeRoy Auditorium Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan
- Horace Mann Educators Insurance Co., Springfield, Illinois, 1979[7]
- IBM Building, Seattle, Washington
- Irwin Library, Butler University, Indianapolis, Indiana[10][11]
- Japan Center, San Francisco, California, 1968
- John Marshall Middle School, Westland, Michigan
- King Building, Oberlin College, 1966
- Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, 1956[7]
- Lincoln Elementary School, Livonia, Michigan (Demolished mid-1980s)
- M&T Bank Center, Buffalo, 1967[7]
- McGregor Memorial Conference Center, Wayne State University, Detroit
- Medical College of Ohio Hospital and Medical College of Ohio, now University of Toledo
- Michigan Consolidated Gas Co., Detroit, Michigan, 1963[7] (Now known as One Woodward Avenue)
- Michigan State Medical Society building, East Lansing, Michigan, 1959[12]
- Military Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Missouri
- Montgomery Ward Corporate Headquarters Tower (built 1972), Chicago, Illinois (converted into high-rise residential condominiums in 2005)
- North Shore Congregation Israel, Glencoe, Illinois, 1964
- Northwestern National Life Insurance Co., Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1964[7]
- Oberlin Conservatory of Music (photo)Oberlin College, 1963
- Pahlavi University in Shiraz, Iran[1]
- Performing Arts Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1976[7]
- Pruitt-Igoe housing project, St. Louis, Missouri[7] (demolished in 1972)
- Queen Emma Gardens, Honolulu, 1964[7]
- Quo Vadis Entertainment Center, Westland, Michigan 1966
- Rainier Bank Tower, Seattle, Washington, 1977[7]
- Reliastar Building (now ING), Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1964
- Reynolds Metals Regional Sales Office, Southfield, Michigan, 1959[7]
- Robertson Hall, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, 1965[7]
- Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency Head Office, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 1981[7]
- Steinman College Center, Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 1976
- Temple Beth El, Bloomfield Township, Michigan 1974[7]
- Torre Picasso, Madrid, Spain, 1988
- One Government Center, Toledo, Ohio, 1976[citation needed]
- United States Consulate in Kobe, Japan 1955[1]
- United States Pavilion, World Agricultural Fair, New Delhi, India, 1959[7]
- United States Science Pavilion (now Pacific Science Center), World's Fair (Century 21 Exposition), Seattle 1962
- University School, Grosse Pointe, Michigan, 1954[7]
- Wascana Centre and the University of Regina
- World Trade Center Tower 1 and Tower 2, New York City, New York (destroyed on September 11, 2001 by terrorist attack)
Honors
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Esterow, Milton (September 21, 1962). "Architect Named for Trade Center". The New York Times.
- ^ a b "Center Will Reflect Architectural Collaboration". The New York Times. January 19, 1964.
- ^ a b Huxtable, Ada Louise (November 25, 1962). "Pools, Domes, Yamasaki - Debate". The New York Times.
- ^ Gallagher, John. "A Once Eminent Firm Meets a Bitter End", Architectural Record, 28 January 2010. Retrieved 6 March 2010.
- ^ Huxtable, Ada Louise (February 2, 1964). "N.Y.C. Architectural Ups and Downs". The New York Times.
- ^ Robbins, William (March 26, 1967). "2 Firms Are Welding Abilities to Plan World Trade Center". The New York Times.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Vivian M. Baulch (August 14, 1998). "Minoru Yamasaki, world-class architect". The Detroit News. http://info.detnews.com/redesign/history/story/historytemplate.cfm?id=206. Retrieved 2007-11-23.
- ^ Carleton College Facilities Management (undated). "Historical Building Information". Carleton College. http://apps.carleton.edu/campus/facilities/property/historical/. Retrieved 2007-07-10.
- ^ Massport (undated). "2002 EDR Logan International Airport" (PDF). Massport. http://www.massport.com/about/pdf/09_Mitigation.pdf. Retrieved 2007-07-11.
- ^ "Yamasaki, Minoru". architectureka.com. 2009. http://architectureka.com/yamasakiminoru.html. Retrieved 4 March 2010.
- ^ "Minoru Yamasaki Biography". Biography Base. http://www.biographybase.com/biography/Yamasaki_Minoru.html. Retrieved 4 March 2010.
- ^ "MSMS". http://www.msms.org/. Retrieved 2010-01-14.
Other references
- Yamasaki, Minoru, A Life in Architecture, Weatherhill, NY 1979 ISBN 0834801361
- Nobel, Philip, Sixteen Acres: The rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, Granta, London 2005 ISBN 1-86207-713-4
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