Minoru Yamasaki
Minoru Yamasaki, 1912-1986
Minoru Yamasaki is most famous as the architect of New York’s 1964 World Trade Center, but with his office located in Troy, just outside of Detroit, he did wonderful work closer to home including two buildings in Washtenaw County: the University of Michigan’s Northwood Apartments and the Chelsea High School.
The U of M’s enrollment doubled after World War II as veterans took advantage of the GI Bill. Since they were older than the typical pre-war students, there was a need for married student housing. Yamasaki, who had designed other multiple living units, came up with an ingenious plan that avoided a cookie cutter design. They were built in three sections between 1953 and 1957.
The Chelsea High School, built in 1955, was not a single building, but a cluster of structures, meant to give a small town feel. The town center building held the gym and auditorium, while science, manual arts, and home economics all had their own buildings. Students went from building to building under brightly covered walkways.
Yamasaki, the son of Japanese immigrants, was born in Seattle. After training as an architect, he moved to New York in 1934 to escape anti-Japanese prejudice on the west coast. During WWII he shared his small apartment with his parents so they could avoid being interned.
Yamasaki moved to Michigan in 1945 when he was offered a job by Smith, Hinchman, and Grylls, a leading Detroit firm. He formed his own firm in 1949. His Detroit area buildings include four on the Wayne State campus most noteworthy the MacGregor and the Education buildings both of which have water features; the Reynolds Metal Building, which was wrapped in aluminum; Temple Beth El; the Michigan Consolidated Gas Building (now One Woodward Avenue;) and the American Concrete Institute, which of course is made of concrete.
The definitive book on his life and career, Minoru Yamasaki, was written by Dale Allen Gyure, a professor at Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, Michigan.
Grace Shackman
Research Articles:
A Star Architect’s Vision: Yamasaki’s Chelsea High School