Minoru Yamasaki

American Architect
Born December 1, 1912, Seattle, WA – Died February 6, 1986, Detroit, MI

The Library Building was designed by master planner of Wascana Centre, Minoru Yamasaki. Yamasaki was one of the most prominent architects of the 20th Century, best known for designing the original World Trade Center in New York City.

“The two colossi that started rising out of lower Manhattan’s landfill in the mid-sixties looked like the creation of some Howard Roark–like super-architect, filling the sky with steel. In fact, the designer of the original World Trade Center was the small and soft-spoken Minoru Yamasaki, who in an era of brutalists, heroic modernists, and fierce aesthetic battles was known for his politeness and humility. ‘Architecture must be dignified and elegant,’ he said in 1962. ‘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.’” - NYMag.com

On October 14, 1967, Minoru Yamasaki was also awarded an honorary degree from the University of Saskatchewan, Regina Campus.

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Produced by University of Regina Archives and Special Collections
Built with Wax.