Minoru’s Mecca: The World Trade Center, 9/11, and Architectural Modernism

From 1966 until 2001, the World Trade Center complex and its skyscraper Twin Towers were a defining architectural feature of New York City and a landmark in architectural modernism. Minoru Yamasaki, the project’s architect, intended the massive complex to be a “mecca” that drew in and inspired urban workers, exemplifying the Islamic architectural language that he incorporated into his architecture. In this article, Senters examines how architectural criticism evolved while the towers stood and after they were destroyed in the 9/11 terrorist attack. Tracking early reviews, hopeful about the complex’s trade-promoting purpose, and the perennial—though limited—negative reception of the complex’s design, Senters documents how architectural critics examined Yamasaki’s Islamic-style inspirations with renewed interest after its destruction by Islamist terrorism. Ultimately, Senters contends that architectural criticism of the towers following 9/11 was not necessarily more appreciative of its design, but rather of the World Trade Center as a potent symbol of New York City and the United States.