PRESENTATION BY NANDITA SHARMA

Biography
NATIONALITY - AMERICAN BIRTH DATE - DECEMBER1,1912

BIRTH PLACE - SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, U.S. DATE OF DEATH -FEBRUARY 7, 1986 PLACE OF DEATH - MICHIGAN, UNITED STATES BUILDINGS - TWIN TOWERS OF THE WORLD TRADE CENTER, RAINIER TOWER, PACIFIC SCIENCE CENTER AWARDS - HE WON AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS AWARD THREE TIMES.

DESIGN - INSPIRATION BY GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE AND USAGE OF NARROW VERTICAL WINDOWS

And a building must be like a human being. It must have a wholeness about it, something that is very important.

Design philosophy

YAMASAKI MADE A NAME FOR HIMSELF WITH WHIMSICAL DESIGNS THAT INCORPORATED HISTORY, HUMANISM AND INSPIRATION INTO MODERN, TECHNOLOGICALLY ADVANCED BUILDINGS.
YAMASAKIS EARLY TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE WERE INFLUENCED BY THE AUSTERITY AND PRACTICALITY OF THE MODERN AND INTERNATIONAL STYLE MOVEMENTS.

HE TOOK AN ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE TOUR OF JAPAN, ITALY, AND INDIA. HAVING NEVER TRAVELLED OUTSIDE THE U.S., THE TRIP PROVED TO BE EYE-OPENING AND CAREER CHANGING.
. AS HE DESCRIBED IN HIS 1979 AUTOBIOGRAPHY, THE JAPANESE TEMPLES HIDDEN AMONGST THE CROWDED CITY STREETS MADE A PARTICULAR IMPACT. HE WAS MOST TAKEN, HE SAID, BY THE ELEMENT OF SURPRISE HE EXPERIENCED WHEN EMERGING FROM THE CITYS COMMOTION INTO THE TEMPLES PEACEFUL GARDENS AND POOLS. IN ITALY, HE STUDIED RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE IN VENICE AND ROME, ADMIRING THEIR PUBLIC SQUARES AND SOARING GOTHIC CATHEDRALS, WHOSE TEXTURE AND ORNAMENTATION ARE UNMATCHED ANYWHERE. FINALLY, HE VISITED INDIA AND WAS AWED BY THE SENSE OF ASPIRATION THAT THE TAJ MAHALS SILHOUETTE AGAINST THE SKYLINE ELICITED IN HIM. EVERY DESIGN HE CREATED FROM THEN ON STROVE TO ELICIT THREE RESPONSES: SURPRISE, SERENITY AND DELIGHT. HE DID ALL OF THIS USING INNOVATIVE MODERN MATERIALS, SUCH AS PRE-CAST CONCRETE. ALTHOUGH FREQUENTLY CRITICIZED FOR BEING OVER-DECORATED LIKE WEDDING CAKES OR JEWELLERY BOXES, HIS DESIGNS WERE ALSO OFTEN PRAISED FOR BEING INTERESTING. HIS WORK NEVER LACKED CONTROVERSY AND WAS ALWAYS DISTINCTLY YAMASAKI.

HIS PROJECTS

TORRE PICASSO, MADRID THE WORLD TRADE CENTER, NEW YORK (1972 RAINER BANK TOWER, SEATTLE (1977

ONE M&T PLAZA, BUFFALO

FEDERAL RESERVE BANK , RICHMOND VIRGINIA

Architecture must be dignified and elegant". It must be humanly scaled to man so that it belongs to him, so that he has pride in it, so that he loves it, so that he wishes to touch it.

HIS PROJECTS
CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC COMPLEX , OBERLIN OHIO

ONE WOODWARD AVENUE,DETROIT

THE FEDERAL SCIENCE PAVILION, SEATTLE WORLDS FAIR (1962

TEMPLE BETH EL, BLOOMFIELD, MICHIGAN

WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITYS COLLEGE OF EDUCATION BUILDING, DETROIT

(The former) World Trade Centre, Twin Towers

THE PUBLIC ON JANUARY 18, 1964, CALLED FOR A SQUARE PLAN APPROXIMATELY 63M IN DIMENSION ON EACH SIDE.
THE BUILDINGS WERE DESIGNED WITH NARROW OFFICE WINDOWS

YAMASAKI'S DESIGN FOR THE WORLD TRADE CENTRE, UNVEILED TO

18 INCHES (46 CM) WIDE.

YAMASAKI'S DESIGN INCLUDED BUILDING FACADES SHEATHED IN

ALUMINIUM-ALLOY. THE WORLD TRADE CENTRE 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.

BASE OF THE TOWERS---POINTED ARCHES

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN
A MAJOR LIMITING FACTOR IN

BUILDING HEIGHT IS THE ISSUE OF ELEVATORS YAMASAKI AND THE ENGINEERS DECIDED TO USE A NEW SYSTEM WITH TWO "SKY LOBBIES"FLOORS WHERE PEOPLE COULD SWITCH FROM A LARGECAPACITY EXPRESS ELEVATOR TO A LOCAL ELEVATOR THAT GOES TO EACH FLOOR IN A SECTION.
THE WORLD TRADE CENTRE HAD 95

EXPRESS AND LOCAL ELEVATORS THIS SYSTEM WAS INSPIRED BY THE NEW YORK CITY SUBWAY SYSTEM WHOSE LINES INCLUDE EXPRESS STATIONS WHERE BOTH EXPRESS AND LOCAL TRAINS STOP AND LOCAL STATIONS WHERE ONLY LOCAL TRAINS STOP.
110 STORIES TALL.

PLAN

SECTIONA L ELEVATIO N

ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE IN THE TWIN TOWERS

AT THE BASE OF THE TOWERS, YAMASAKI USED IMPLIED POINTED ARCHESDERIVED FROM THE CHARACTERISTICALLY POINTED ARCHES OF ISLAMAS A TRANSITION BETWEEN THE WIDE COLUMN SPACING BELOW AND THE DENSE STRUCTURAL MESH ABOVE. ABOVE SOARED THE PURE GEOMETRY OF THE TOWERS.

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.

YAMASAKI DESCRIBED ITS PLAZA AS A MECCA, A GREAT RELIEF FROM THE NARROW STREETS AND SIDEWALKS OF THE SURROUNDING WALL STREET AREA

YAMASAKIS COURTYARD MIMICKED MECCAS ASSEMBLAGE OF HOLY SITESTHE QABA (A CUBE) CONTAINING THE SACRED STONE AND THE HOLY SPRINGBY INCLUDING SEVERAL SCULPTURAL FEATURES, INCLUDING A FOUNTAIN, AND HE ANCHORED THE COMPOSITION IN A RADIAL CIRCULAR PATTERN, SIMILAR TO MECCAS.

PLAZA AT THE WORLD TRAE CENTRE

CRITICISM
THE WORLD TRADE CENTER DESIGN BROUGHT CRITICISM OF ITS AESTHETICS FROM THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE

OF ARCHITECTS AND OTHER GROUPS.

LEWIS MUMFORD, AUTHOR OF THE CITY IN HISTORY AND OTHER WORKS ON URBAN PLANNING, CRITICIZED THE PROJECT AND DESCRIBED IT AND OTHER NEW SKYSCRAPERS AS "JUST GLASS-AND-METAL FILING CABINETS".THE TWIN TOWERS' NARROW OFFICE WINDOWS, ONLY 18 INCHES (46 CM) WIDE AND FRAMED BY PILLARS THAT RESTRICTED VIEWS ON EACH SIDE TO NARROW SLOTS, WERE DISLIKED BY MANY. LEWIS MUMFORD DENOUNCED THE CENTRE AS AN "EXAMPLE OF THE PURPOSELESS GIGANTISM AND TECHNOLOGICAL EXHIBITIONISM THAT ARE NOW EVISCERATING THE LIVING TISSUE OF EVERY GREAT CITY". ACTIVIST AND SOCIOLOGIST JANE JACOBS ALSO CRITICIZED PLANS FOR THE WTC'S CONSTRUCTION, ARGUING THAT THE WATERFRONT SHOULD BE KEPT OPEN FOR NEW YORKERS TO ENJOY.

ONE WOODWARD AVENUE, Detroit

THE BUILDING OPENED IN 1963 AND

MARKED A FIRST FOR YAMASAKI, WHO HAD NEVER DESIGNED A SKYSCRAPER BEFORE.

THE BUILDING INCORPORATES A PRE-CAST

CONCRETE EXTERIOR, NARROW WINDOWS, GOTHIC ARCHES, DECORATIVE TRACERY AND SCULPTURAL GARDENS THAT LATER BECAME THE ARCHITECTS SIGNATURE MOTIFS.
IT HAS BEEN CALLED THE FORE-RUNNER

TO YAMASAKIS RENOWNED WORLD TRADE CENTER IN NEW YORK.

A THREE-STORY RECESSED GLASS LOBBY CONSISTING OF 82 , 30-FOOT GLASS PANELS WRAPS THE ENTIRE BUILDING AT THE GROUND LEVEL, INVITING THE PUBLIC INTO A STARKLY WHITE INTERIOR THAT IS NEARLY INDISTINGUISHABLE FROM THE CONCRETE AND MARBLE OF THE EXTERIOR GROUND WALLS.
RAILINGS AROUND THE LOBBY ENTRANCES AND ON THE

STAIRS ARE OF POLISHED CHROME THAT IS REPEATED IN THE DETAILS OF THE LOBBY CEILING.

THE TOWERS ALL-WELDED, STEEL FRAME IS CLAD WITH TWOSTORY, PRE-CAST CONCRETE PANELS WHICH HANG ABOVE THE EXTERIOR TERRACE AS IF DRIPPING FROM THE BUILDINGS FRAME.

HEXAGONAL GRILLWORK WRAPS THE BUILDINGS TOP TWO STORIES. THE ROOFLINE FEATURES DELICATE CRENULATIONS AN ARCHITECTURAL FEATURE SIMILAR TO A CASTLES BATTLEMENTS. THE SECTION IS ALSO CLAD WITH CRENULATED, PRE-CAST CONCRETE PANELS.

THE CEILING OF THE MAIN LEVEL CONSISTS OF COFFERED SQUARE PANELS THAT HAVE A RECESSED LIGHT FIXTURE.

THE FACADE OF THE STRUCTURE CONSISTS OF PIERS

CLAD IN WHITE MARBLE THAT TIE INTO THE BASE AND DIVIDE EACH SIDE INTO FOUR BAYS. THE WINDOWS OF THE UPPER FLOORS ARE ONLY 12 INCHES .ALTHOUGH THE WINDOWS EXTEND NEARLY FLOOR-TO-CEILING, THEIR NARROWNESS AVOIDS THE FEELING OF ACROPHOBIA.

RAINIER TOWER
RAINIER TOWER IS A 31-STORY 156.67 M (514.0 FT) SKYSCRAPER IN THE METROPOLITAN TRACT OF SEATTLE , WASHINGTON, AT 1301 FIFTH AVENUE. YAMASAKI AND HIS STAFF LABOURED THROUGH SCORES OF DESIGNS, INCLUDING AN APPROACH RESEMBLING HIS CONTROVERSIAL RAINIER SQUARE AND BANK TOWER IN SEATTLE WHICH RISES TO 40 STORIES ATOP A FLUTED PEDESTAL FROM A LOW RETAIL COMPLEX, NOT UNLIKE A RECTANGULAR PENCIL DRIVEN INTO THE GROUND.

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.
BENEATH THE TOWER IS RAINIER SQUARE, AN

UNDERGROUND SHOPPING MALL CONNECTING WITH ONE UNION SQUARE .

THIS COLOSSAL STRUCTURE HAS THE UNIQUE DISTINCTION OF

BALANCING ATOP AN ELEVEN STORY PEDESTAL. BUILT IN 1977, THIS RELATIVELY MODERN STRUCTURE GIVES ONE THE FEEL OF AN UPSIDE-DOWN PYRAMID REACHING TO THE CLOUDS AS YOU GAZE THIRTY ONE STORIES ABOVE IT'S BASE AT THE PECULIAR LINES OF THIS SKYSCRAPER. ALTHOUGH THE SHAPE OF THIS STRUCTURE WOULD LEAVE SOME TO WONDER IF IT IS INDEED STURDY, THE PEDESTRIAN FRIENDLY DESIGN HAS BEEN PROVEN TO BE EXTREMELY SOUND AGAINST EARTHQUAKE AND HIGH WIND.

HOUSING TWENTY NINE FLOORS OF TRADITIONAL OFFICE SPACE AND THREE LEVELS OF OPULENT RETAIL SPACE KNOWN AS RAINIER SQUARE, RAINIER TOWER IS A UNIQUE SPECIMEN OF ARCHITECTURAL DELIGHT NO MATTER WHERE YOU STAND.
STRUCTURE IN GENERAL BUILDING TYPE SKYSCRAPER BUILDING STATUS EXISTING [COMPLETED] STRUCTURAL MATERIAL STEEL ARCHITECTURAL STYLE MODERNISM

CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC COMPLEX , Oberlin, Ohio

THE INTERESTING THING ABOUT OBERLIN COLLEGE AS IT DIFFERS FROM OTHER MORE URBAN SCHOOLS OR UNIVERSITIES IS THAT IT IS A WALKING CAMPUS... WE HAD TO THINK IN TERMS OF A WALKING POPULATION RATHER THAN AN AUTOMOBILETRANSPORTED POPULATION. SO THERE ARE SOME LITTLE QUALITIES IN THE BUILDING THAT MIGHT BE INTERESTING. AS YOU APPROACH THE CONCERT HALL, YOU LOOK AT THE GARDEN FIRST, YAMASAKI ONCE SAID. OBERLINS VERY NATURE AS A WALKING CAMPUS STRONGLY INFLUENCED HIS AESTHETIC PHILOSOPHY. SERENE BUILDINGS AND CALM SURROUNDINGS WERE IMPORTANT TO HIM IN WHAT HE CALLED THE WHOLE MACHINE ERA.

The purpose of architecture is to create

an atmosphere in which man can live, work and enjoy.- MINORU YAMASAKI

THE CONSERVATORYS JAPANESE-STYLE GARDEN HAS A MEDITATIVE, PEACEFUL QUALITY WHERE STUDENTS CAN OFTEN BE FOUND TAKING A BREAK, GATHERING THEIR THOUGHTS OR REHEARSING ON WARM DAYS. YAMASAKIS WORK ON CAMPUS ILLUSTRATED HOW STRUCTURAL STRENGTH COULD STILL BE GUSSIED UP WITH LIGHT EMBELLISHMENTS.

WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITYS COLLEGE , Detroit

THE LARGE WINDOWS IN THE COLLEGE OF EDUCATION BUILDING ARE A TYPICAL OF YAMASAKI'S DESIGN. MANY OF HIS BUILDINGS FEATURE SMALL OR NO WINDOWS DUE TO YAMASAKI'S FEAR OF HEIGHTS.

THE EDUCATION BUILDING, SURROUNDED ON THE FIRST FLOOR BY TALL, THIN WINDOWS, INCLUDES GOTHIC ARCHWAYS THAT CAST DIFFERENT SHADOWS AS THE DAY PROGRESSES.

PACIFIC SCIENCE CENTER, Seattle

THE U.S. SCIENCE PAVILION BECAME ONE OF THE FAIR'S STAR ATTRACTIONS. AND ITS HANDS-ON EXHIBITS SHOWED THAT SCIENCE DOESN'T HAVE TO BE DULL.
PACIFIC SCIENCE CENTER INSPIRES A LIFELONG INTEREST IN SCIENCE, MATH AND TECHNOLOGY BY ENGAGING DIVERSE COMMUNITIES THROUGH INTERACTIVE AND INNOVATIVE EXHIBITS AND PROGRAMS. A HALF-CENTURY LATER, MAKING SCIENCE ACCESSIBLE REMAINS THE CHALLENGE OF THE PACIFIC SCIENCE CENTER, THE PRIVATE, NONPROFIT ENTITY THAT WITH THE END OF THE FAIR TOOK OVER OPERATION OF THE SITE FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.

PACIFIC SCIENCE CENTER ARCHES

SINCE THE 1962 SEATTLE WORLD'S FAIR, PACIFIC SCIENCE CENTER'S ARCHES HAVE BEEN A FAMILIAR PART OF THE SEATTLE SKYLINE. DESIGNED BY MINORU YAMASAKI, PACIFIC SCIENCE CENTER'S WHITE ARCHES RISE ABOVE A COURT OF REFLECTING POOLS. AT NIGHT, THEY LIGHT UP THE SKY WITH THEIR VIBRANT COLORS - GREEN FOR ST. PATRICK'S DAY, ORANGE FOR HALLOWEEN AND MANY MORE. PACIFIC SCIENCE CENTER IS PROUD TO SUPPORT MANY LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS AND NATIONAL CAUSES BY CHANGING THE COLOR OF THE ARCHES TO CORRESPOND WITH SPECIAL EVENTS AND AWARENESS MONTHS. WE'VE GONE RED FOR AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION AND ORANGE FOR HUNGER ACTION. IF THE MARINERS OR SEAHAWKS MAKE THE PLAYOFFS, OUR ARCHES WILL REFLECT TEAM COLORS.