A couple of days ago, on the anniversary of the World Trade Center attack, I got to thinking about the Twin Towers in NYC, One M&T Plaza here in Buffalo, and their common designer/architect, Minoru Yamasaki.
Yep, that’s right, One M&T Plaza was designed by the same architect who designed the World Trade Center. As a matter of fact, Yamasaki completed the design for the World Trade Center while One M&T Plaza was being built.
Photo Credit: Nancy Wohlfeil. One of the Twin Towers pre 2001. Looks like a photo I would have taken, doesn’t it?
Yamasaki (rt.) shown with colleagues and a model of the World Trade Center. Photo Credit: Tony Vaccaro
You could say that One M&T Plaza is another one of our architectural treasures that is hiding in plain sight. We pass by it all the time. We watch bands there every weekday in the summer. We run over there to grab a quick bite from a food truck, or to do our banking on our breaks. But do we ever really look at it? Or even recognize it for the masterpiece that it is, or for the incredibly talented architect who designed it?
Let’s start with the architect. Who was Minoru Yamasaki?
Well, he was born in Seattle, Washington in 1912. Yamasaki was a second generation Japanese American who put himself through college by working at a salmon cannery for 17 cents an hour. Seeing the elderly men working in the cannery, he became very determined to take his life in a completely different direction.
His uncle, architect Koken Ito, visited the family and showed Yamasaki plans for the U.S. Embassy Building in Tokyo. It was then that Yamasaki set his sights on becoming an architect. After graduating from Washington State University with a Bachelor’s Degree, he went on to receive a Master’s Degree from New York University.
Early in his career, Yamasaki was heavily influenced by the practicality and austerity of the modern or international style of architecture. But in 1955, he traveled to Japan to get some ideas for a U.S. Consulate building in Kobe. While he was there, he was particularly struck by the temples hidden among the commotion of the city streets. The beautiful, calm, serene effect that was achieved in these designs fascinated him.
Robertson Hall, Princeton University. Photo Credit: Yamasaki-inc.com
He set out to perfect the art of delighting the senses while using modern building materials such as concrete and steel. His designs always drew attention, but not always in a positive way. They were criticized for being both too dainty and later too great and powerful looking. I guess it’s true what ‘they’ say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
While working for Duane Lyman and Associates, Yamasaki was commissioned to design One M&T Plaza. Executives at M&T had a vision of a serene place for their employees to work unencumbered by poor design, with a place out of doors, in the sun to relax during break times. They wanted their employees to enjoy being at work, feel stress free and surrounded by beauty. In 1966 that was quite a change in vision from the Ellicott Square Building across the street, which was built in 1895 and advertised as the “place where you can get two days worth of work done in one day”. It seems to me that in 1966 we were moving in the right direction. And Yamasaki was just the person to design this building.
It’s in the International style like almost all of Yamasaki’s designs and has 21 stories. It’s a classic tripartite design, which simply means that the design has three sections.
The first floor with high ceilings and tall arched windows, faced with marble in white and green, the green being on both the north and south elevations make up the first section. It’s followed by the office block which houses narrow windows, and piers made with concrete aggregate with small pores that self clean the building when it rains. (It’s effective too. Think about it, you’ve never seen this building appear dirty like some others. Case in point, the Rand Building.) The office block is topped by the third and final section, which is a series of white verticals with just a slight hint of a cornice above. These three are the basis for most modern skyscrapers.
As a side note, Yamasaki designed the windows to be tall and narrow with very narrow piers. This is said to alleviate that woozy feeling that accompanies the fear of heights from the inside of the building. He did this on all of his tall buildings you see, because he was afraid of heights. Can you imagine? A designer of skyscrapers, afraid of heights?
The steel for the frame was purchased from Bethlehem Steel here in Buffalo, and wraps around the outside of the structure leaving the inside of the building wide open at the center. The spine at the back of the building on Washington Street houses all the utilities and elevator shafts, allowing for this great openness on the inside.
Incidentally, this spine was built of concrete in a process known as slipforming, a method of construction in which concrete is poured into the top of a continuously moving formwork. As the concrete is poured, the formwork is raised vertically at a speed which allows the concrete to harden before it is freed from the formwork at the bottom. Slipforming was used extensively in Buffalo in the building of our grain silos.
The fountain outside the Main Street entrance was designed by famed sculptor Harry Bertoia. The curves of the sculpture contrast nicely against the straight lines of the building itself. The fountain is designed to make you feel as if the water flows out of the sculpture itself onto the ground of the plaza, which is entirely stone, in M&T signature green. That same stone continues right through the front doors and into the enormous open lobby.
And the lobby is impressive. You only need to walk through the door (use the revolving door for the full effect) to be awed by the sheer size and openness of it! I’m told on this visit today that there will be a reorganization of the lobby in the coming months and will be completed in early 2020.
The photo above was taken by me today 9/13/2019. I’m told the chairs in this photo will be replaced with the original chairs (below) when the reorganization of the lobby is complete.
Photo credit: Mark Mulville, Buffalo News.
Think for a moment about Manufacturers & Traders Trust Bank (M&T). It was founded in Buffalo in 1856, as Manufacturers and Traders Bank by two very prominent Buffalo businessmen, Hascal Pratt and Bronson Rumsey. That’s 163 years ago! And M&T has maintained a very strong presence here ever since. Even when businesses and people alike were leaving Buffalo in droves in the 1950’s, 60’s & 70’s, M&T stayed. And on top of that, just as everyone else was leaving, they hired one of America’s best architects to build this building in the heart of the downtown business district, with a clear vision for their employees.
A place to work in relative serenity. A place to sit in the sun and relax on breaks and at lunch time. Anyone who works or spends any time downtown knows that this is exactly what happens in the plaza that surrounds the building. Especially in the warm months. Yamasaki realized that vision in both the building and the plaza.
As I sit on the wall in the sun today outside One M&T Plaza, I am grateful that Yamasaki didn’t live to see the horrifying fate of his World Trade Center and the massive loss of lives on September 11, 2001.
But I do sort of wish he could sit here with me today, seeing his plaza at the M&T Building still being used fifty some years later just as he had intended.
If you have never experienced lunch hour at M&T Plaza, head over to the corner of North Division and Main Street to take in some rays, sit back and relax for an hour and just enjoy the people and the plaza.
And don’t forget to head inside to see that awe inspiring lobby!
Share your thoughts on One M&T Plaza in the comments below.
I never knew a lot about Buffalo, very cool!
Thanks for reading!
What a neat building. I love archtecture and this is so unique.
I love discovering cool architectures and this definitely sparked my interest!
That building is beautiful! I love the sculpture fountain outside. The memories of 9/11 will fade, but history will not be forgotten. I agree that it’s a good thing he wasn’t alive to see the towers demise, enough lives we’re destroyed that day.
Beautiful building! Love all of the features. You always share the most interesting facts about the places you write about–things most people would never know! Thanks for sharing!
It is indeed a beautiful building. I love the lobby and the fountain outside. It is a shame that his beautiful work was destroyed that day on 9/11 along with the lives of so many beautiful souls. I agree, it’s good he was not here to see it.
I’m glad you enjoyed the post. Thanks for reading!
ITs wonderful that all that work on the outside has allowed for all that open space. Learn something new every day..;) and that fountain! ooh la la.
Glad you liked it! Thanks for reading!
I need to pass this one along to my husband. He’s an architectural nerd and would totally love all of this.
Thanks for sharing it with him, but who you callin nerd? Haha! I’m a huge history and architecture nerd! 🙂
Thanks for reading!
So much history! Love it!
That’s so interesting! I’m glad that he didn’t see the fate of the world trade centres as well. It would’ve broken his heart.
This is really interesting! Thanks for sharing!
Wow! I don’t no much about architecture, but I really appreciated this article. I love those arched top windows. What an interesting man, being afraid of heights and designing skyscrapers!
The fountain is amazing. Thank you for sharing.
A long time ago I wished to be an architect – I have tons of scribbles of floorplans and building still in notebooks from when I was a kid. I love seeing stuff like this. The men with the twin towers models – omg, love it!
I’m glad you enjoyed it Angela!
Great information. Interesting!
Amazing how he was so afraid of heights but still built skyscrapers and living out his dream. He did beautiful work. Great post. I love learning about Buffalo! I really need to visit this place now.
I’m really happy you’re enjoying my blog!
So cool. My dad and now also my boss is an architect and we love to marvel at design and construction methods everywhere we go. I love your blog and all the interesting information you share. How special to get to be surrounded by the designs of such an influential architect on our times.
Great read! I loved this architectural history lesson! Thanks for sharing!!
That is crazy! I love that he pulled inspiration from temples in Japan and that he was a skyscraper architect who was afraid of heights! I’m not a fan of heights either, so I definitely appreciate his narrow window design.
i love that you are exploring architecture in your own town. fun and worthwhile!
These buildings really are impressive and Yamasaki has changed our landscapes.
I love exploring new architecture. The fountain is so beautiful!
I have watched a few documentaries on the building of the Twin towers. It is fascinating to me.
I never thought of how the creator of the Twin Towers might feel on the day it went down. Thank You for sharing this post, it make me think quite a bit.
I love architecture, and truly enjoyed this post.
Stunning architecture! So interesting to learn about. Beautiful. Thank you for sharing.
Wow…I can see the subtle resemblances in much of his work. I too initially wondered how he reacted to 9/11; thank you for answering that question.
I don’t know much about Buffalo other than what I’ve seen in movies and TV shows, but…I think I may have seen One M&T Plaza in “Bruce Almighty” maybe?
The movie was set in Buffalo, and there were some general scenes from Bruce Almighty filmed here in Buffalo, so it’s entirely possible!
That’s so fascinating that he was afraid of heights himself! And that lobby….ðŸ˜
Soooo pretty inside and out!
Beautiful architecture…but that fountain sculpture is stunning! Reminds me of the fins of a large green eel swimming around me when scuba diving in Cozumel. Gorgeous!
Wow – not what I see at all, but I guess that’s art! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
There is some very interesting history here!
What a beautiful building. It’s amazing how taking a look at something we see everyday with new light can really open our eyes. I love the fountain too!
Very cool bit of architectural history!
I love that pretty fountain too, they are one of my architectural weaknesses. Great story and so informative with all the history you have included.
Not a weakness, water brings us back to ourselves. I think anyway 😉
Wow, this was interesting. Thanks for the in depth post. I love learning about new places
Thank you for your kind words!
What a gorgeous building! And how intriguing that the designer is afraid of heights.