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♪♪

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Minoru Yamasaki was born
to Japanese immigrant parents

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in Seattle in 1912
and was a graduate of 

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Garfield High School.

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In 1929, he enrolled at the 
University of Washington,

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where he studied architecture.

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He paid for his tuition
by working at Alaska

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salmon canneries
during the summer.

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After receiving his bachelor's

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degree, he enrolled at New York

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University for his master's degree

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and began practicing
with the firms responsible

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for the Empire State Building
and Rockefeller Center.

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Living in New York
during World War II

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also spared
him and his family,

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who had moved there with him

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from the forced incarceration
of Japanese Americans

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on the West Coast.

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In 1945,
Yamazaki secured a position

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at the firm of Smith, Hinchman & Grylls  
in Detroit,

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where he designed
campus buildings

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and plazas for Detroit's
Wayne State University,

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as well as the terminals
for Lambert St Louis Airport

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in St Louis and Dhahran
International Airport

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in Saudi Arabia.

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In 1959, Yamasaki
established his own practice

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in Troy, Michigan,

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and the following year
he helped to design

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Seattle's Washington Building,

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now Puget Sound Plaza,

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as an associate of Naramore,

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Bain, Brady and Johanson.

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His work with NBBJ
continued on with the creation

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of the United States

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Science Pavilion
for the 1962 World's Fair.

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This elegant “Cathedral
of Science” featured many

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design elements that Yamasaki
would come to use quite often

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such as gothic arches, narrow
vertical windows,

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and open plazas
graced with fountains.

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These features were also
quite prominent in his design

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for Seattle's IBM building,
which was completed in 1964.

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It was also at this time

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that Yamasaki began
work on the building

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for which he is known best,

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the World Trade Center
in New York City.

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His design was unveiled
in 1964 and featured

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two massive towers
set within a vast open plaza.

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Construction began in 1966

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and the first tower
was topped out in 1970.

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Meanwhile, Yamasaki continued
to work on other buildings,

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including Seattle's
Rainier Tower,

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his final project
in the Pacific Northwest.

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This distinctive building
rises 40 stories atop

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a fluted pedestal,

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not unlike a rectangular
pencil driven into the ground.

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Minoru Yamasaki died in 1986
at the age of 73,

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and was therefore not around
in 2001 to see the World

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Trade Center reduced to rubble
during the September 11th

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terrorist attacks.

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But his legacy in Seattle
lives on with buildings

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that are looked
upon and admired to this day.