Works
His first internationally recognized design, was the Pacific Science Center and its iconic arches, constructed by the City of Seattle for the 1962 World's Fair. 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 1966. The towers were finished within six years, in 1972. Many of his buildings feature superficial details inspired by the pointed arches of Gothic architecture, and make use of extremely narrow vertical windows. This narrow-windowed style arose from his own personal fear of heights.
It was in 1978 that Yamasaki also designed the Federal Reserve Bank tower in Richmond, Virginia. The work was designed in almost the same way as the World Trade Center complex, with its narrow windowing, and now stands at 394 feet.
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.
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.
He also designed a number of buildings at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota.
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The former World Trade Center
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Rainier Tower in Seattle
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One Woodward Avenue in Detroit
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One M & T Plaza, in Buffalo, NY
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Torre Picasso, in Madrid
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Pacific Science Center in Seattle
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Reynolds Metal Regional Sales Building in Southfield, Michigan
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Temple Beth El, in Bloomfield Township, Michigan
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Education Building at Wayne State University
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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.
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Irwin Library at Butler University (Indianapolis, Indiana)
Read more about this topic: Minoru Yamasaki
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—Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)
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—James Thomson (1700–1748)
“Do not worry about the incarnation of ideas. If you are a poet, your works will contain them without your knowledge—they will be both moral and national if you follow your inspiration freely.”
—Vissarion Belinsky (1810–1848)