Minoru Yamasaki

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Minoru Yamasaki bigraphy, stories - American architect

Minoru Yamasaki : biography

December 1, 1912 – February 7, 1986

Minoru Yamasaki (December 1, 1912 – February 7, 1986) was an American architect, best known for the failed Pruitt–Igoe housing project and 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 "New Formalism."; excerpting from HABS documentation:

Works

Notably, Yamasaki designed the Temple Beth El Congregation Synagogue located outside Detroit in Bloomfield Hills, MI. He also designed a number of buildings at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota.

File:World Trade Center, New York City – aerial view (March 2001).jpg|The former World Trade Center File:Pruitt-Igoe-overview.jpg|The former Pruitt–Igoe housing project in St. Louis File:Rainier Tower Seattle Washington.jpg| Rainier Tower in Seattle File:OneWoodwardAvenue.JPG|One Woodward Avenue in Detroit File:M&T Plaza.jpg|One M & T Plaza, in Buffalo, NY File:Torre Picasso (Madrid) 10.jpg|Torre Picasso, in Madrid File:PacScienceCenterNight1.jpg|Pacific Science Center in Seattle File:Reynolds Building.JPG|Reynolds Metal Regional Sales Building in Southfield, Michigan File:TempleBethElBloomfieldHillsMi.jpg|Temple Beth El, in Bloomfield Township, Michigan File:Education Building Wayne State Univ A.JPG|Education Building at Wayne State University File:Oberlin music2.jpg|The Conservatory of Music at Oberlin College, designed by Yamasaki in 1963. The distinctive style is similar to Yamasaki’s design of the World Trade Center. File:Irwin Library Butler Univ.jpg|Irwin Library at Butler University (Indianapolis, Indiana)

Biography

Yamasaki was born in Seattle, Washington, a second-generation Japanese American, son of John Tsunejiro Yamasaki and Hana Yamasaki. He grew up in Auburn, Washington and graduated from Garfield Senior High School in Seattle. He enrolled in the University of Washington program in architecture in 1929, and graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch.) in 1934. 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.

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. The firm helped Yamasaki avoid internment as a Japanese-American during World War II, and he himself sheltered his parents in New York City. Yamasaki left the firm in 1949, and started his own partnership. One of the first projects he designed at his own firm was Ruhl’s Bakery at 7 Mile Road and Monica St.Interview with owner’s daughter. Original architectural drawings donated to the University of Michigan. 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 cancer in 1986. His firm, Yamasaki & Associates, closed on December 31, 2009.

Honors

  • Yamasaki was elected as a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 1960.
  • Yamasaki won the American Institute of Architects’ First Honor Award three times.