Architecture

December 1 is the birthday of Minoru Yamasaki, who designed the World Trade Center towers that were destroyed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Yamasaki was born to Japanese immigrant parents in Seattle, Washington in 1912. He became noted for impressive, sculptural buildings such as the Lambert-St. Louis Municipal Air Terminal, the American Concrete Institute, the Reynolds Metal Company, and the U.S. science pavilion at the 1962 Seattle Exposition. Yamasaki died on February 7, 1986.

Also see:

• 9/11 Pictures
• Why the World Trade Center Towers Fell on September 11

^{Photo: New York World Trade Center tower detail � Daniel Stein / iStockPhoto}

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French architect Paul Andreu designed the National Centre for the Performing Arts to be a symbol for Beijing. The theater is one of several bold new designs constructed for the Beijing Olympics. More about the Centre: National Centre for the Performing Arts

The US Supreme Court
Built: 1928 - 1935
Style: Neoclassical
Architect: Cass Gilbert

Learn About the US Supreme Court Building

Architect Cass Gilbert borrowed from the architecture of ancient Rome when he designed the US Supreme Court Building. The Neoclassical style was chosen to reflect democratic ideals.

Learn more: The US Supreme Court Building >

The gable on this house faces the sides. This house also has two roof dormers facing the front.

Side gable roofs are often found on American Colonial and Colonial Revival homes. See these styles:

• Cape Cod
• Colonial Revival
• Georgian Colonial

During an age when racial prejudice ran strong, Paul R. Williams overcame barriers and became a favored architect in Hollywood.

Born:

February 18, 1894

Died:

January 23, 1980

Important Buildings:

Early Training:

Paul Williams was orphaned when he was four, and received little encouragement for his artistic talents. Nevertheless, he enrolled in engineering school at the University of Southern California and won an important architecture competition when he was only 25. When he was 28, he opened his own practice.

Distinctive Style:

While there is no one distinctive "look" to buildings by Paul Williams, he became known for designs which were stylized and elegant. Paul Williams borrowed ideas from the past without using excessive ornamentation. According to one critic, Paul Williams was "the last word in elegant traditionalism."

Career Challenge:

As a Black American, Paul Williams faced many social and economic barriers. Williams' clients were mostly white. "In the moment that they met me and discovered they were dealing with a Negro, I could see many of them freeze," he wrote in American Magazine. "My success during those first few years was founded largely upon my willingness â€" anxiety would be a better word â€" to accept commissions which were rejected as too small by other, more favored, architects."

Career Highlights:

Being black forced Paul Williams to develop salesmanship and become politically active. He joined the Los Angeles Planning Commission and he became the first African American member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). In 1957, he was the first Black elected to the prestigious AIA College of Fellows.

Quote:

"If I allow the fact that I am a Negro to checkmate my will to do, now, I will inevitably form the habit of being defeated."

Learn More About Paul R. Williams:

The US Supreme Court Building: Main Entrance

The Italian Renaissance master Andrea Palladio is to architecture what Julia Child is to cooking. He borrowed ideas from the past, added his own insights, and created a straightforward approach to design that builders anywhere could follow. American statesman Thomas Jefferson modeled his own home after Palladio's architecture. Chances are your own home reflects "Palladian" ideas.

November 30, is Andrea Palladio's birthday. He was born in 1508.

• Andrea Palladio - Biography
• Andrea Palladio - Books
• Renaissance Architecture

^{Photo: The Basilica in Vicenza, Italy by Andrea Palladio. � Luke Daniek/iStockPhoto.com}

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Traveling with an Australian group to campaign against sanctions in Iraq, Daniel B. Grünberg photographed this view of Baghdad and the Tigris River. This picture was taken from the Mansour-Millia Hotel.

Find extra storage space in the nooks and crannies of your Victorian home.

• Convert the area beneath the main stairway into a closet.
• Optimize space in narrow closets by placing poles sideways for easier access to hanging clothes.
• Install built-in bookcases and cabinets around doors and windows.
• Use wardrobes and armoires for additional storage.

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After the Great Fire of London, St. Paul's Cathedral was given a magnificent dome designed by Sir Christopher Wren.

In 1666, St. Paul's Cathedral was in poor repair. King Charles II asked Christopher Wren to remodel it. Wren submitted plans for a classical design based on ancient Roman architecture. The plans Wren drew called for a high dome. But, before work could begin, the Great Fire of London destroyed St. Paul's Cathedral and much of the City.

Sir Christopher Wren was in charge of rebuilding the Cathedral and more than fifty other London churches. The new Baroque Saint Paul's Cathedral was constructed between 1675 and 1710. Christopher Wren's idea for a high dome became part of the new design.

More About St. Paul's Cathedral:

• Archaeology at St. Paul's Cathedral
• Sir Christopher Wren
• St. Paul's Cathedral Official Site

In its glory, Babylon was surrounded by thick masonry walls ornamented with images of the ancient God of Marduk.

This photo shows a detail from the elaborate tilework at the 16th century Al Kadhimain Mosque in Baghdad's Al Kadhimain district.

You don't need to mortgage the house to buy holiday gifts for your favorite architecture enthusiasts and old-house lovers. This shopping list has ideas for fun gifts that won't cost a bundle. Top Architecture Gifts >

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Wonderful houses... and horror houses. This week's Architecture Updates show dreams fulfilled, and also what happens when things go terribly wrong.

• Eichler Houses
• How Engineers Stop Floods

Reader Submissions:

• Historic Florida Bungalow
• House Horror Tales

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Skyscraper pioneer Cass Gilbert was born on November 24, 1859. Known for his Neo-Gothic skyscrapers and his classically-inspired public buildings, Cass Gilbert helped shape the way cities look like today.

^{Photo: The US Supreme Court Building by Cass Gilbert
� VisionsofAmerica/Joe Sohm, Getty Images}

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For anyone who loves mid-century modernism, an Eichler house is irresistible. But passion for these bright 1950s-era homes soared after Walter Isaacson published his best-selling biography of Apple guru Steve Jobs. Seems that Jobs spent part of his childhood in a classic Eichler ranch with exposed beams and an open floor plan.

"I love it when you can bring really great design and simple capability to something that doesn't cost much," Jobs told Isaacson. "It was the original vision for Apple."

• Joseph Eichler, Real Estate Developer and Home Designer
• Steve Jobs' Modern Childhood Home May Have Incubated his Design Vision, in Inhabit
• Steve Jobs Grew Up in a Modernist Home, in Architizer
• Steve Jobs, Biography by Walter Isaacson (compare prices)

Repeated circles created a unifying theme in this textile design by Frank Lloyd Wright. The fabric is rayon and cotton.

Frank Lloyd Wright wanted to create a unified aesthetic design that included every detail in the home. Wright's textile designs echoed the shapes found elsewhere in the room.

Frank Lloyd Wright designed this rayon and cotton textile for F. Schumacher's Taliesin Line in 1955.

You may notice many similarities between Frank Lloyd Wright's Curtis Meyer House in Galesburg, Michigan and his earlier Jacobs II House in Wisconsin. Both are hemicycles with an arched glass front and a flat, protected back side.

Along the eastern side of the Curtis Meyer house, a crescent-shaped glass wall seems to follow the line of the grassy knoll. At the center of the house, a two-story tower encloses a stairway that leads from a carport and bedroom down to the lower level living area.

The Baker House by Alvar Aalto overlooks a busy street, but the rooms remain relatively quiet because the windows face the traffic at a diagonal.

Soaring 408 feet, the spire that tops 1 WTC ("Freedom Tower") will elevate the building height to a symbolic 1,176 feet.

The huge spire is the one concession made to architect Daniel Libeskind's original vision for the skyscraper at One World Trade Center ("Freedom Tower"). He wanted the building height to rise 1,176 feet because the number represents the year of America's independence.

Learn more:

• Designing Freedom Tower
• Ground Zero Buildings

First Century AD: In Novgrad, Russia, the Vikings built rustic log homes.

Russia's early architecture was primarily wood. Because there were no saws and drills in ancient times, trees were cut with axes and buildings were constructed with roughhewn logs. Homes built by the Vikings were rectangular with steep, chalet-style roofs.

During the first century AD, churches were also constructed of logs. Using chisels and knives, craftsmen created detailed carvings.

A sagging economy diminished the need for office space. Construction progressed in fits and starts through 2009. Nevertheless, the new World Trade Center began to take shape. The concrete and steel core of 1 World Trade Center (Freedom Tower) rose, and Tower 4 was well underway. In August 2009, a final symbolic beam from the Ground Zero debris was returned to the World Trade Center site where it could become part of the Memorial Museum Pavilion. By the summer of 2010, all of the steel supports were installed and most of the concrete was poured. In August, the first of the planned 400 new trees were planted on the cobblestone plaza surrounding the two memorial pools.

• Plans for the National 9/11 Memorial Plaza

Has the quest to create an idealized "Hollywood" home left you exhausted and overwhelmed? Forget the frantic decorating and the hectic search for perfection. More and more homeowners are seeking a simpler, more realistic approach to home design. Try these eight easy tips for building, remodeling, and decorating a home that is truly serene: Relaxing Home Design.

Is your home relaxing? Share your tips.

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