Minoru Yamasaki

Grace Henry

S1S2 B.ARCH

Roll no 61017

Overview

Nationality- AmericanBirth date- December 1, 1912.Birth place- Seattle, Washington, U.S. Date of Death- February 7, 1986.Place of death- Michigan, U.S.Awards- Won American Institute of Architects Award three times.Design- Inspiration by Gothic architecture and usage of narrow vertical windows.

When Minoru was 8, his Uncle, who was an architect, came to visit him. His uncle, Koken Ito, made Minoru think differently about architecture. Thus, Minoru became

an architect.

AS A CHILD…

Towards Architecture

Design philosophyYamasaki’s early training and experience were influenced

by the AUSTERITY AND PRACTICALITY OF THE MODERN AND INTERNATIONAL STYLE MOVEMENTS.

Every design he created from then strove on:-

a. SURPRISE

b. SERENITY

c. DELIGHT

Enlightened!!

05/01/23

• Minoru Yamasaki was an American architect, best known for designing the original World Trade Center in New York City and several other large-scale projects.

• 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".

New Formalism•An architectural style that emerged in the United States

•Buildings designed in that style exhibited many Classical elements.

•Used primarily for high-profile cultural, institutional and civic buildings.

• They were "typically constructed using rich materials or man-made composites and also incorporated certain qualities of concrete that allowed for the creation of distinctive forms".

Common features– Use of traditionally rich materials, such as travertine, marble, and granite or man-made

materials that mimic their luxurious qualities

– Buildings usually set on a podium

– Designed to achieve modern monumentality

– Embraces classical precedents, such as arches, colonnades, classical columns and entablatures

– Smooth wall surfaces

– Delicacy of details

– Formal landscape; use of pools, fountains, sculpture within a central plaza"

It is terribly important to somehow bring about a framework, an environment for society which involves mankind in this delightful experience within an artificial environment. And

then I think architecture becomes suddenly much more important than, say, an art form that you look at from the

street.

Architecture should be based on human experience.

-Minoru Yamasaki

CONSISTENCY in Architecture• There is consistency completely through the building. And if we do not have this

consistency then the building lacks, and I look at the canopy, for instance, out in front and I feel very sad about the canopy Architecture also must be very consistent.

• Each piece of the building must look as though it was designed for that particular building. It must be consistent with the theme of the building. And if it is not, the whole building falls apart.

• If you look at the buildings, you'll find that one part looks as if it was designed by one man, and you go around and look at another facade and it looks as if it was designed by another man, you see. And a building must be like a human being. It must have a wholeness about it, something that is very important.

Pruitt–Igoe housing project

The Auburn native’s first significant solo project with his Detroit-based firm was the Pruitt–Igoe housing project in St. Louis in 1955. The housing project experienced so many problems that it was demolished in 1972, less than 20 years after its completion.

World Trade Center (Jan 18, 1964)– Held the title of Tallest Building in the World from

1972–1974.

– After a hundred plus designs he came up with twin towers

– The company, Port authority, had wanted 10 million square feet of office space. That’s around 11 football fields.

– 1350 feet tall.

– Square plan of 63m in dimension on each side.

Yamasaki’s design included building facades sheathed in Aluminum Alloy. The world trade center was one of the most-striking American implementations of the architectural ethic of Le Corbusier, and it was the seminal expression of Yamasaki’s Gothic modernist tendencies.

Foundation box

Minoru used the so- called “tube within a tube” architecture where the close external columns form the perimeter walls of a building.SEARS TOWER also used this architecture.

Structural System

Had a 800 x 400 foot foundation box that was 65 feet deep and had 3 foot thick retaining walls.

Called the bathtub.- Yamasaki’s advanced elevator design

allowed for the WTC to reach the heights that it did. Skeptics thought it would not work, but it was faster than a regular elevator would have been.

Innovation in elevators

Yamasaki and the engineers decided to use a new system with two “SKY LOBBIES”- floors where people could switch from a large capacity express elevators to a local elevator that goes to each floor in a section.

Fear of HEIGHTS!!

Ironically, Yamasaki had a big-time fear of heights, which explains his preference for narrow windows spaced between numerous columns to admit light without subjecting tenants and office workers to views of how high they actually were in the building.

Yamasaki’s courtyard mimicked Mecca’s assemblage of holy sites- the QA’BA (a cube) containing the sacred stone and the holy spring- by including several sculptural features, including a fountain and he anchored the composition in a radial circular pattern, similar to MECCA’s.

Yamasaki described its plaza as a MECCA, a great relief form the narrow streets and sidewalks of the surrounding wall street area.

Yamasaki described its plaza as a MECCA, a great relief from the narrow streets and sidewalks of the surrounding wall street area.

ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE IN THE TWIN TOWERSAt the base of the towers, Yamasaki used implied pointed arches- derived from the characteristically pointed arches of Islam- as a transition between the wide column spacing below and the dense structural mesh above.

Here, Yamasaki was following the Islamic tradition of wrapping a powerful geometric form as in the inlaid marble pattern work of the TAJ MAHAL or the ornate carvings of the courtyard and domes of the ALHAMBRA.

Bin Laden's special complaint with the World Trade Center.– Having rejected modernism and the Saudi royal family, it's no

surprise that Bin Laden would turn against Yamasaki's work in particular. He must have seen how Yamasaki had clothed the World Trade Center, a monument of Western capitalism, in the raiment of Islamic spirituality. Such mixing of the sacred and the profane is old hat to us.

– To Bin Laden, the World Trade Center was probably not only an international landmark but also a false idol.

Lambert airport (1953-1955)

The Lambert Airport at St. Louis was a prominent design of Yamasaki. The arching floors, ceiling windows, and 36- foot dome ceilings dedicate it as a GRAND CENTRAL STAION for AIR. Using huge concrete shell vaults, it gave a dramatic interior effect.

“you must consider every element of a building because this helps in bringing out unity”.

Rainier Tower

Rainier Tower is a 31-story, 156.67 m (514.0 ft) skyscraper in the Metropolitan Tract of Seattle, Washington.The skyscraper has an unusual appearance, being built atop an 11-storey, 37 m (121 ft) concrete pedestal base that tapers towards ground level, like an inverted pyramid.Locals often refer to it as the "Beaver Building" as its physical appearance looks like a tree being felled by a beaver. It has also been referred to as the "golf tee" building.

Pacific Science Center archesThe centerpiece of this museum was built for the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair.Surrounding the arches are six exhibition halls, each with tracery-adorned white facades, and in the center of the complex are reflecting pools. With the five arches resembling the vaults of cathedrals, Yamasaki’s design was seen as a temple to science and technology.

Conclusion

So…“the purpose of architecture is to create an atmosphere in which man can live, work and enjoy.

Thank YOU!!