Minoru Yamasaki (山崎實, Yamasaki Minoru?, December 1 1912 – February 7
1986) was an American architect best known for his design
of the World Trade Center which was destroyed in the September 11, 2001 attacks. Yamasaki was one of the most prominent architects of the 20th
century and his firm, Yamasaki & Associates, continues to do business. 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 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 cancer in 1986, and hence did not live to see
the destruction of the twin towers of the World Trade Center on September 11
2001.
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 metre) 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.[4]
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.[5]
Structures designed by Minoru Yamasaki
- Bank of Oklahoma, Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1977[6]
- Behavioral Sciences Building - Harvard University[1]
- 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.[7].
- Columbia Center, Troy,
Michigan
- Century Plaza Towers , Los Angeles, 1975[6]
- Dhahran International Airport - Civil Air Terminal[1]
- Eastern Airlines Terminal, (Logan Airport Terminal A) Boston, Massachusetts[6], 1969 (Demolished 2002)[8].
- Eastern Province International Airport, Saudi Arabia, 1985[6]
- Education Building,
Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan
- Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond , Richmond, Virginia[6]
- Federal Science Pavilion, Seattle
World's Fair, 1962[6][1]
- Founder's Hall, Shinji Shumeikai, Shiga Prefecture, Japan, 1982[6]
- Gratiot Urban Redevelopment Project, Detroit, Michigan, 1954[6]
- Helen L. DeRoy
Auditorium Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan
- Horace Mann Educators Insurance Co., Springfield, Illinois, 1979[6]
- IBM Building, Seattle,
Washington
- Irwin Library, Butler University, Indianapolis, Indiana
- Japan
Center, San Francisco, California, 1968
- John Marshall Middle School, Westland, Michigan
- King
Building, Oberlin College, 1966
- Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, 1956[6]
- M&T Bank Center, Buffalo, 1967[6]
- McGregor Memorial
Conference Center, Wayne State Univ., Detroit
- Michigan Consolidated Gas
Co., Detroit, Michigan, 1963[6]
- Michigan State Medical Society Building, East Lansing,
Michigan, 1959
- Military Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Missouri
- Montgomery Ward Corporate Headquarter Tower (built 1972), Chicago, Illinois (converted into high-rise residential
condominiums in 2005)
- Robertson Hall, Woodrow Wilson School of Public
and International Affairs,Princeton University
- North Shore Congregation
Israel, Glenco, Illinois, 1964[9][6]
- Northwestern National Life Insurance Co., Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1964[6]
- Oberlin Conservatory of Music (photo)Oberlin College,
1963
- One Woodward Avenue, Detroit,
Michigan
- Pahlavi University in Shiraz, Iran[1]
- Performing Arts Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1976[6]
- Pruitt-Igoe housing project, St. Louis,
Missouri[6] (demolished
in 1972)
- Queen Emma Gardens, Honolulu, 1964[6]
- Rainier Bank Tower, Seattle, Washington,
1977[6]
- Reynolds Metals Regional Sales Office, Southfield, Michigan, 1959[6]
- Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency Head Office, Riyadh, Saudi
Arabia, 1981[6]
- Temple Beth El, Birmingham, 1974[6]
- 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[6]
- University School, Grosse Pointe,Michigan 1954[6]
- Wascana Centre and the University of
Regina
- Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, 1965[6]
- World Trade Center Tower 1 and Tower 2, New York City, New York (destroyed on 9/11/2001 by terrorist attack)
Honors
See also
References
- ^ a b c
d e f
g Esterow, Milton. "Architect Named for Trade Center", The New
York Times, September 21, 1962.
- ^ a b "Center Will Reflect Architectural Collaboration", The New York Times,
January 19, 1964.
- ^ a b Huxtable, Ada Louise. "Pools, Domes, Yamasaki - Debate", The New York
Times, November 25, 1962.
- ^ Huxtable, Ada Louise. "N.Y.C. Architectural Ups and Downs", The New York
Times, February 2, 1964.
- ^ Robbins, William. "2 Firms Are Welding Abilities to Plan World Trade
Center", The New York Times, March 26, 1967.
- ^ a b c
d e f
g h i
j k l
m n o
p q r
s t u
v w x
Vivian M. Baulch. "Minoru Yamasaki, world-class architect", The Detroit News, undated. Retrieved on 2007-06-04.
- ^ Carleton College Facilities Management
(undated). Historical Building Information. Carleton College. Retrieved on 2007-07-10.
- ^ Massport (undated). 2002 EDR Logan International
Airport. Massport. Retrieved on 2007-07-11.
- ^ North Shore Congregation Israel About Us Facilities. Retrieved on 2007-06-04.
Yamasaki, Minoru, A Life in Architecture, Weatherhill, NY 1979 ISBN 0834801361
External links
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