Minoru Yamasaki

December 1, 1912 – February 7, 1986 6

Nationality : American n
Awards:American Institute of Architects
First Honor Awardsdksdncksndkcss

Minoru Yamasaki has the uncommon distinction of being most well known for how his buildings were destroyed.
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."
 T i m e l i n E (part 1: education )E
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 attended Auburn Senior

High School.

He enrolled in the University of Washington program in

architecture in 1929, and graduated with a Bachelor of
Architecture (B.Arch.) in 1934.

After moving to New York City in the 1930s, he enrolled at

New York University for a master's degree in architecture.
 T i m e l i n E (part 2: career )E
After completing the master’s degree, Yamasaki 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.
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 Rd. and Monica St.
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[citation needed] in 1986. His firm, Yamasaki & Associates, closed
on December 31, 2009.
 style Philosophy
Phrases that associates with
Minoru Yamasaki’s style

● Modern Architecture
● leading practitioner of the new "Beauty over Function”
formalist style
● fused and simplified classical
Asian and European forms
 ARCHITECT OF DISASTER
His twin towers at the World Trade Center
in New York collapsed in the terrorist
attacks of September 11th, 2001, and his
Pruitt-Igoe complex in St. Louis,
Missouri, demolished less than 20 years
after its completion, came to symbolize
the failure of public housing and urban
renewal in the United States.
IBM Building (Seattle)
IBM Building is one of the most
recognizable symbols in Seattle. The
20-story building features twelve stone
arches that contain an elegant spiral
staircase and a glass enclosed lobby.
Rainier Tower (SEATTLE)
The skyscraper has an unusual
appearance, being built atop a 121-foot
(11-story) concrete base that tapers
towards ground level, like an inverted
pyramid. Beneath the tower is the
Rainier Square underground shopping
mall.
Torre picasso (Madrid)
Completed in 1988, the Picasso tower
with its 47 floors was the tallest
skyscraper of the city until the four
towers of CBTA were inaugurated in
2008. The Picasso tower eluded a
terrorist attack by the ETA group in
2002 and henceforth no photographs
can be taken of the building.