Minoru Yamasaki and Lambert St. Louis Airport

Yamasaki's 1955 design for the Lambert terminal changed the visual vocabulary of what an airport should look like.

American-born architect Minoru Yamasaki's 1955 design for the Lambert St. Louis terminal not only was his first major commissioned work, but it was a pivotal work that changed the visual vocabulary of airports indelibly. Prior to Lambert's new terminal opening, airport buildings were just collections of flat topped utilitarian boxes. Yamasaki's design for Lambert reflected the modernism of jet age flight with its sweeping lines with a vaulted interior that evoked the splendor of rail stations like New York Grand Central.

Yamasaki's work on Lambert contrasted sharply with his other big 1955 commission, the Pruitt-Igoe public housing project, also in St. Louis. Pruitt-Igoe was severely constrained it is budget that it resulted in a stark collection of high rises that were a spectacular failure in public housing. The poorly maintained buildings were demolished in 1972, marking the symbolic end of Modernist architecture in America.

Lambert's legacy was more far reaching as the sweeping lines and spacious interiors influenced Eero Saarinen's famous designs for the TWA Flight Center at JFK and Washington Dulles as well as designs worldwide to this day. The arch motif was developed further in his design for the Pacific Science Center, built for the 1962 World's Fair in his birth town of Seattle.

Yamasaki is best known as the architect of the original twin World Trade Center towers of New York City.

Heavily criticized in his day for his architectural style, more recent scholarship has led to a not only a favorable view of Yamasaki's influence on modern architecture, but also in a number of restoration projects on his works, including the 2014 replacement of the damaged copper roof of Lambert St Louis and a resurfacing of the interior ceilings to his original specifications.