Editing Minoru Yamasaki (section)

== Career ==
{{Main article|List of works by Minoru Yamasaki}}

=== Pruitt–Igoe and other early commissions ===
[[File:Pruitt-Igoe-overview.jpg|thumb|[[Pruitt–Igoe]] housing project, [[St. Louis]], 1954 (demolished 1972–1976)]]
Yamasaki's first major project was the [[Pruitt–Igoe]] public housing project in [[St. Louis]] in 1955. Despite his love of traditional Japanese design and [[Ornament (art)|ornamentation]], the buildings of Pruitt–Igoe were stark, [[modernism|modernist]] concrete structures, severely constricted by a tight budget. The housing project soon experienced so many problems that it was demolished starting in 1972, less than twenty years after its completion. Its destruction would be considered by architectural historian [[Charles Jencks]] to be the symbolic end of [[Modern architecture|modernist architecture]].<ref name="nymag"/>

In the 1950s, Yamasaki was commissioned by the [[Reynolds Group Holdings|Reynolds Company]] to design an aluminum-wrapped building in [[Southfield, Michigan]], which would "symbolize the auto industry's past and future progress with aluminum."<ref>{{cite news |title=Reynolds Review |year=1959 |work=Reynolds Review (company magazine) |publisher=Reynolds Metals Papers, Virginia Historical Society}}</ref> The three-story glass building wrapped in aluminum, known as the Reynolds Metals Company's Great Lakes Sales Headquarters Building, was also supposed to reinforce the company's main product and showcase its admirable characteristics of strength and beauty.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Ong Yan |first=Grace |year=2012 |title=Wrapping Aluminum at the Reynolds Metals Company |journal=Design and Culture |volume=4 |issue=3 |pages=299–323 |doi=10.2752/175470812X13361292229113 |s2cid=112315246 }}</ref>

In 1955, he designed the "sleek" terminal at [[Lambert–St. Louis International Airport]], which led to his 1959 commission to design the [[Dhahran International Airport]] in Saudi Arabia. The Dhahran International Airport terminal building was especially well received in Saudi Arabia and was featured on the one [[Saudi riyal|riyal]] bank note.<ref>{{cite web |title=ARCHITECT OF WORLD TRADE CENTER |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-02-09-8601100822-story.html |newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]] |date=February 9, 1986 |language=en}}</ref>

Yamasaki's first widely-acclaimed design was the [[Pacific Science Center]], with its iconic lacy and airy decorative arches. It was constructed by the City of Seattle for the [[Century 21 Exposition|1962 Seattle World's Fair]].<ref name="historylinkbio"/> The building raised his public profile so much that he was featured on the cover of ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine.<ref name="TimeCover"/>

Yamasaki was a member of the [[Pennsylvania Avenue (Washington, D.C.)|Pennsylvania Avenue]] Commission, created in 1961 to restore the grand avenue in [[Washington, D.C.]], but he resigned after disagreements and disillusionment with the [[design by committee]] approach.<ref name="huxtable">{{cite news |title=N.Y.C. Architectural Ups and Downs |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/02/02/archives/nyc-architectural-ups-and-downs.html |last=Huxtable| first=Ada Louise |date=February 2, 1964 |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

The campus for the [[University of Regina]] was designed in tandem with Yamasaki's plan for [[Wascana Centre]], a park built around Wascana Lake in [[Regina, Saskatchewan]]. The original campus design was approved in 1962. Yamasaki was awarded contracts to design the first three buildings: the Classroom Building, the Laboratory Building, and the [[Dr. John Archer Library]], which were built between 1963 and 1967.<ref>Riddell, William A. ''The First Decade, 1960-1970''. Regina: University of Regina, 1974.  pp.91-95.</ref>

Yamasaki designed two notable synagogues, [[North Shore Congregation Israel]] in [[Glencoe, Illinois]] (1964), and [[Temple Beth El (Detroit)|Temple Beth El]], in [[Bloomfield Hills, Michigan]] (1973).

He designed a number of buildings on college campuses, including designs for [[Carleton College]] in [[Northfield, Minnesota]], and a building in [[Waikiki]], in [[Honolulu|Honolulu, Hawaii]],<ref name="1350 Ala Moana 2022 n973">{{cite web| title=About 1350| website=1350 Ala Moana| date=October 10, 2022| url=https://1350alamoana.com/index.php/en/about| access-date=August 28, 2023}}</ref> between 1958 and 1968 as well as being commissioned to design buildings on the campus of [[Wayne State University]] in the 1950s and 1960s, including the [[McGregor Memorial Conference Center]], the College of Education building and the [[Prentis Building and DeRoy Auditorium Complex]].<ref name="carleton">{{cite web| title=Historical Building Information| url=https://www.carleton.edu/facilities/property/historical/| date=February 1, 2021| publisher=Carleton College| access-date=February 6, 2021}}</ref><ref name="Gallagher"/> The buildings at Wayne State University incorporated many architectural motifs that would become characteristic elements in Yamasaki's designs.

With regards to the McGregor Memorial Conference Center, this included placing the building on an elevated base or pedestal to emphasize its presence, repeated geometric patterns on the exterior facade of the building (many times these exterior design features were functional as well, providing structural support to the building). He also used exotic materials such as white marble tiles and columns, incorporated a skylight traversing the length of the building and made extensive use of the secondary space outside the building including constructing a plaza with reflecting pools, seating areas, greenery and sculptures.<ref name="Gallagher"/> The College of Education building featured repeating [[gothic arch]]es throughout the exterior of the building which were both ornamental but also provided structural support for the building.<ref name="Gallagher"/>

=== World Trade Center ===
[[File:World Trade Center, New York City - aerial view (March 2001).jpg|thumb|The original [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)]] was the most widely-known of Yamasaki's buildings.]]
In 1962 Yamasaki and his firm were commissioned to design his most well-known project: [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|the World Trade Center]], with [[Emery Roth & Sons]] serving as associate architects. The World Trade Center towers featured many innovative design elements to address many unique challenges at the site.

One particular design challenge related to the efficacy of the elevator system, which became unique in the world when it was first opened for service. Yamasaki employed the fastest elevators at the time, running at {{convert|1,700|ft}} per minute.  Instead of placing a traditional large cluster of full-height elevator shafts in the core of each tower, Yamasaki created the Twin Towers' "[[Sky lobby|Skylobby]]" system. The Skylobby design created three separate, connected elevator systems which would serve different zones of the building, depending on which floor was chosen, saving approximately 70% of the space which would have been required for traditional shafts. The space saved was then used for additional office space.<ref name="jaffee">Remarks by Lee K. Jaffee, World Trade Center Press Conference, New York Hilton Hotel, January 18, 1964.</ref> Internally, each office floor was a vast open space unimpeded by support columns, ready to be subdivided as the tenants might choose.

Other design challenges included anchoring the massively tall towers to the bedrock located about {{convert|80|ft}} below lower Manhattan's soft soil. Digging a large trench to the bedrock risked flooding from nearby [[New York Harbor]]. The solution employed by Yamasaki and his team of engineers was to use a [[slurry wall]]; digging very narrow trenches about {{convert|3|ft}} wide and then filling these with a slurry (a mixture of clay and water) that was dense enough to keep the surrounding water out. Pipes were then lowered into the slurry trench and concrete was pumped in. The concrete, being more dense than the slurry, sank to the bottom of the trenches all the way down to the bedrock displacing the slurry to the surface, where it was drained away. This process was repeated around the entire perimeter of the site and reinforced with steel cables to create a watertight concrete bathtub surrounding the excavation site.<ref name="Gallagher"/><ref name="How Stuff Works">{{cite web |title=How the World Trade Center Slurry Wall Works |url=https://science.howstuffworks.com/engineering/structural/world-trade-center-slurry-wall.htm |website=HowStuffWorks |language=en |date=September 13, 2011}}</ref> This slurry wall system had only been employed a few times prior in the United States and never on such a large project.<ref name="How Stuff Works"/>

A further design challenge was developing a wind-bracing system to keep the ultra tall but relatively lightweight steel and glass structures from swaying at their upper levels. Other contemporary modern skyscrapers had used centrally located cross-bracing systems located in the core of the interiors at the upper levels, but Yamasaki and structural engineer [[Fazlur Rahman Khan]] employed an exterior truss system; a network of vertical and horizontal structural elements on the exterior of the towers giving them structural support.<ref name="Gallagher"/> This external structural support system also decreased the need for large internal pillars. The external truss support system and the unique elevator configuration created more rentable space in the World Trade Centers to satisfy the owner's ([[Port Authority of New York and New Jersey|The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey]]) massive demand for {{convert|10,000,000|sqft}} of office space.<ref name="Gallagher"/>

The first of the towers was finished in 1970.<ref name="HistoryPANYNJ">{{cite web| title=History of the Twin Towers| website=Port Authority of New York and New Jersey| access-date=December 12, 2014| url=http://www.panynj.gov/wtcprogress/history-twin-towers.html| archive-date=December 28, 2013| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131228040848/http://www.panynj.gov/wtcprogress/history-twin-towers.html| url-status=dead}}</ref>  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 [[acrophobia|fear of heights]].<ref name="GlanzLipton">{{cite book| title=City in the sky: the rise and fall of the World Trade Center |first1=Glanz| last1=James| first2=Eric| last2=Lipton| publisher=Macmillan| year=2003| isbn=978-0-8050-7428-4| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yE1Pyui4GpkC| page=109}}</ref> After partnering with [[Emery Roth|Emery Roth and Sons]] on the design of the World Trade Center, the collaboration continued with other projects including new buildings at [[Bolling Air Force Base]] in Washington, D.C.<ref name="robbins">{{cite news |title=2 Firms Are Welding Abilities to Plan World Trade Center |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1967/03/26/archives/2-firms-are-welding-abilities-to-plan-world-trade-center-two.html+Firms+Are+Welding+Abilities+to+Plan+World+Trade+Center&scp=2&st=p |last=Robbins| first=William |newspaper=The New York Times |date=March 26, 1967 |access-date=November 17, 2012}}</ref>

Yamasaki designed the [[BOK Tower]] in [[Tulsa, Oklahoma]] with a similar design to the World Trade Center. It was completed in 1976 and was the tallest building in Oklahoma at the time.<ref>{{cite news |title = A Lone Oklahoma Tower's Clear but Uncomfortable Links to 9/11 |last = Sulzberger |first = A. G. |date = August 27, 2011 |newspaper = The New York Times |url = https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/28/us/28tulsa.html |access-date = August 17, 2023}}</ref>

=== Later years ===
After criticism of his dramatically [[cantilever]]ed [[Rainier Tower]] (1977) in Seattle, Yamasaki became less adventurous in his designs during the last decade of his career.<ref name="Reader"/>

In 1978, Yamasaki designed the [[Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond|Federal Reserve Bank]] tower in [[Richmond, Virginia]]. The work was designed with a similar external appearance as the World Trade Center complex, with its narrow [[Fenestration (architecture)|fenestration]], and stands at {{convert|394|ft|m|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.emporis.com/buildings/130661/federal-reserve-bank-building-richmond-va-usa |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150505074245/http://www.emporis.com/buildings/130661/federal-reserve-bank-building-richmond-va-usa |url-status=usurped |archive-date=May 5, 2015 |title=Federal Reserve Bank Building, Richmond |website=Emporis |access-date=September 11, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://architecturerichmond.com/inventory/federal-reserve-bank/ |title=Federal Reserve Bank | website=Architecture Richmond |language=en-US |access-date=September 11, 2018}}</ref>