Yamasaki & Associates

Yamasaki Associates, Inc. (also as Minoru Yamasaki Associates, Inc. before 1986) was an architectural firm based in Troy, Michigan. Its founder, Minoru Yamasaki, was well known for his design of the twin towers of the World Trade Center.

Yamasaki Associates, Inc.
TypePrivate
IndustryArchitecture
PredecessorNone
Founded1955 (1955)
FounderMinoru Yamasaki
Defunct2009 (2009)
FateDissolved
SuccessorNone
Headquarters900 Tower Drive, Suite 190,
Troy, Michigan
,
U.S.
Number of locations
Dubai - satellite office
Area served
United States, Europe, Middle East, Asia, South America
Key people
Minoru Yamasaki (Founder)
Ted Ayoub (CEO)
Lee Yesh (CFO)
ServicesArchitecture, design, interior architecture, planning, programming, site analysis, space planning, master planning, project management, cost management
Revenue$5-10 million
Number of employees
100 (2007)
20 (2009)
Websiteyamasaki-inc.com

History

Minoru Yamasaki arrived in Detroit in 1945 from New York City and briefly worked for the firm Smith, Hinchman & Grylls. In 1949, he and two other associates from the firm (Joseph Leinweber and George F. Hellmuth) formed Leinweber, Yamasaki & Hellmuth.[1] Some of their most notable designs included the terminal building at St. Louis Lambert International Airport and the Pruitt-Igoe public housing complexes.[2] In 1955, Yamasaki formed his own firm; Yamasaki & Associates.[3]

The firm has designed an eclectic variety of buildings throughout its history including high rise office buildings, buildings on college campuses, municipal buildings, places of worship as well as smaller businesses and private homes. Some of the firm's known houses of worship include the synagogues Temple Beth El in the Detroit suburb of Bloomfield Hills and North Shore Congregation Israel in the Chicago area.[2]

World Trade Center Twin Towers with Brooklyn Bridge in foreground in 1976

The firm is best known for building the original World Trade Center which was subsequently destroyed in the September 11 attacks.[4] After the construction of the World Trade Center, the firm achieved more global popularity and designed buildings throughout the world including overseas projects in Azerbaijan, Brazil, China, India, South Korea, Spain and Turkey.[5][6]

Facing financial problems due to the financial crisis of 2007-2008, the firm laid off the last of its employees on December 31, 2009, and ceased operations in January 2010.[7]

After dissolution

In the 2010s, a former employee of Yamasaki, Robert Szantner bought the intellectual property of the company and opened a successor company called Yamasaki Inc. that operates in the Metro Detroit area.[6] In 2017 Yamasaki Inc. moved to the Fisher Building in Detroit.[6]

References
  1. "USModernist". usmodernist.org.
  2. Gallagher, John (2015). Yamasaki in Detroit : a Search for Serenity. Detroit, Michigan: [Wayne State University Press]. ISBN 978-0814341193.
  3. HistoricDetroit.org, Denise McGeen for. "Historic Detroit". historicdetroit.org.
  4. "Minoru Yamasaki designed World Trade Center as "beacon of democracy"". Dezeen. 10 September 2021.
  5. Minoru Yamasaki & Associates at the Wayback Machine (archived May 18, 2015)
  6. Gallagher, John. "A great name — Yamasaki — is returning to Detroit's architectural scene". Detroit Free Press.
  7. "Architectural firm Yamasaki Associates Inc. downsizes last local employees". Crain's Detroit Business. 6 January 2010.
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