Minoru Yamasaki (ミノル・ヤマサキ) (December 1 1912–February 6 1986) was a Japanese-American architect, born in Seattle, Washington, a second-generation Japanese American. A prolific architect, he is best known for his design of the World Trade Center, which was destroyed in the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Biography

Despite a poor background, Minoru Yamasaki earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Washington; he earned money to pay for his tuition by working at an Alaskan salmon cannery when not attending classes. 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 1964 Yamasaki received a D.F.A. from Bates College.

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. It was so unpopular that it was demolished in 1972. 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. It is often reported that his signature use of extremely narrow vertical windows arose from his own personal fear of heights.

He was first married in 1941 and had two other wives before marrying his first wife again in 1969. Yamasaki died of cancer in 1986, fifteen years before the towers were destroyed on September 11 2001.

Works

• Pruitt-Igoe Housing Project, St. Louis, Missouri (1955, demolished 1972)
• U.S. Consulate General, Kobe, Japan (1955)
• Lambert-Saint Louis International Airport main terminal, St. Louis, Missouri (1956)
• McGregor Center at Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan (1958)
• Deroy Auditorium at Wayne State University
• Education Building at Wayne State University
• Reynolds Metals Regional Sales Office, Southfield, Michigan (1959)
• King Fahd Dhahran Air Terminal, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia (1961)
• U.S. Science Pavilion for the Seattle World Exposition (since renovated to house the Pacific Science Center) (1962)
• One Woodward Building, Detroit, Michigan (1962)
• American Natural Resources Building, Detroit, Michigan (1962)
• Irwin Library at Butler University, Indianapolis, Indiana (1963)
• William James Hall, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts (1963)
• Northwestern National Life Insurance headquarters ^*, Minneapolis, Minnesota (1964)
• Reliastar II ^*, Minneapolis (1964)
• Queen Emma Gardens, Honolulu, Hawaii (1964)
• North Shore Congregation Israel, Glencoe, Illinois (1964)
• Conservatory of Music, Warner Concert Hall and King Memorial Building at Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio (1966)
• Cowling Gymnasium (1965), West Gymnasium (1964), Olin Hall (1961), Goodhue Dormitory (1962), and Watson Hall (1966), Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota
• Robertson Hall and Peyton Hall at Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey (both 1966)
• World Trade Center, New York, New York (1966-73, destroyed 2001)
• Plan for Wascana Centre and University of Saskatchewan, Regina Campus, Regina,Saskatchewan, Canada (1967)
• Congregation Beth El Temple, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan (1968)
• Colorado National Bank, Denver, Colorado (1974)
• One Wiliams Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma (1975)
• Century Plaza Towers, Los Angeles, California (1975)
• Steinman College Center, Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, Pennsylvania (1976)
• Rainier Tower, Seattle, Washington (1977)
• Fifth Federal Reserve Bank, Richmond, Virginia (1978)
• Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency Head Office, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (1981)
• Founder's Hall, Shinji Shumeikai, Shiga Prefecture, Japan (1982)
• Picasso Tower, Madrid, Spain (1989)
• Cevahir Mall, Şişli, İstanbul, Turkey (2005)

External links

• GreatBuildings.com listing
• Seattle architect created trade center as peace symbol Seattle P-I, September 13, 2001

1912 births | 1986 deaths | American architects | Japanese Americans | Seattleites | University of Washington alumni

Minoru Yamasaki | Minoru Yamasaki | Minoru Yamasaki | Minoru Yamasaki | ミノル・ヤマサキ | Minoru Yamasaki | Minoru Yamasaki | Minoru Yamasaki | Minoru Yamasaki | Minoru Yamasaki | 山崎實