YAMASAKI, MINORU 1912-

ARCHITECT OF THE TWIN TOWERS OF THE
WORLD TRADE CENTER

Keeping Art in Architecture

The work of architect Minoru Yamasaki was the focus of a larger controversy concerning the place of art in architecture. Detractors of Yamasaki's designs complained his buildings were too artistic and ornamental, that they existed solely as decoration. His followers, on the other hand, agreed with Yamasaki when he said that the social function of an architect is to create a work of art. Despite the controversy, Yamasaki had a considerable influence on American architecture. At a time when many modern buildings were designed as plain, sterile-looking products of the industrial age, Yamasaki designed buildings as sculpture, richly ornamental and playful or serene as the occasion demanded.

Life

Minoru Yamasaki was born in Seattle, Washington, in 1912, the son of an immigrant Japanese farmer. His uncle, an architect, fueled his interest in the profession. Determined to rise above his tenement surroundings, Yamasaki worked summers in fish canneries in Alaska to earn the tuition to attend the University of Washington's school of architecture. After graduating in 1934, Yamasaki worked in several firms in New York City and from 1943 to 1945 taught design at Columbia University. Yamasaki was able to escape internment as a Japanese-American during World War II with the help of the architects for whom he worked. Yamasaki also saved his parents from internment by sheltering them in New York City.

Major Works

Yamasaki joined several firms throughout the 1950s until he formed Minoru Yamasaki and Associates in 1959. Yamasaki has designed over eighty-five buildings. Among the most important are the Federal Science Pavilion (1961) at the World's Fair in New York, the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs (1965) at Princeton University, and the Federal Reserve Bank (1973) in Richmond, Virginia. Yamasaki's most famous design is the twin towers of the World Trade Center (1973) in New York City.