Editing Minoru Yamasaki (section)

=== 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"/>