Preserving a Historical Landmark
The Pacific Science Center, designed by the renowned architect Minoru Yamasaki, stands as a testament to mid-20th century modernist architecture. Its iconic arches and reflecting pools embody Yamasaki’s principles of serenity, surprise, and delight. Preserving this masterpiece is crucial not only for its architectural significance but also for its cultural heritage. The integrity of this landmark must be maintained to honor Yamasaki’s vision and the historical context it represents.
In 2010 the Pacific Science Center was designated as a Seattle landmark. It is one of only two Seattle landmarks that meet all six of the Landmark Preservation Board’s designation criteria.
United States Science Pavilion, Seattle World’s Fair, 1962
Friends of Yamasaki Chronology and Community Outreach
2022
December
PSC Courtyard Project Team meets with Historic Seattle, Docomomo US/WEWA & Queen Anne Historical Society to introduce their meadow concept for Yamasaki’s pools, resulting in strong opposition and a letter-writing campaign to the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board.
2023
February 15
Will Daugherty, PSC CEO/President, & Project Team provide a briefing on the proposed courtyard improvements, alterations & vision to the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board. LPB expresses strong reservations.
May 18
Donald Kunz meets with Eugenia Woo, Director of Preservation Services at Historic Seattle, to discuss the PSC briefing.
May 25
Michigan Historic Preservation Network presents a webinar by Professor Dale Allen Gyure on recent Yamasaki preservation efforts and potential preservation threats, including the Pacific Science Center.
Summer
PSC Courtyard Project Team advocates members complete a survey/ questionnaire about the future of the courtyard and pools. The survey’s resulting focus groups appear not to include representatives of Seattle’s architectural, historic preservation, and Japanese American communities.
July 25
Donald Kunz & Heather Pihl meet with Eugenia Woo to discuss PSC’s courtyard plans.
October 16
Discussions begin to create an organization focused on restoration and preservation of Yamasaki’s courtyard and pools: Friends of Yamasaki [FOY].
November 28
FOY meets with Seattle City Councilmember Andrew Lewis to share FOY’s concerns with Lewis’ council district constituents.
December
Historic Seattle, Docomomo US/WEWA & Queen Anne Historical Society meet with the PSC Courtyard Project Team for an update on the courtyard plans.
2024
March 12
FOY meets with the PSC Courtyard Project Team [Mädchen Petrie & Paul Chiocco [PSC], Grace Kim [Schemata Workshop], and Shannon Nichol [GGN] to discuss PSC’s imperative scope, their project vision of planted meadows and/or fountain planters, overall project costs, and their proposal to install a temporary exhibit in the drained pools.
April 19
FOY discussion with Karen Yoshitomi, Executive Director, Japanese Cultural & Community Center of Washington regarding PSC’s plans for the Yamasaki courtyard.
June 7
FOY meets with Bryce Seidl, former CEO/President PSC, 2003-2014, regarding shared concerns about PSC’s courtyard plans.
June 19
FOY submits a letter to David H. Wright, Grousemont Associates LLC, regarding plans for an 8-story apartment building at 100 Second Ave. N., adjacent to the Science Center’s west and south walls. FOY’s concerns include the building’s scale, blockage of Yamasaki exterior walls, and obstruction of iconic sky views through the courtyard’s arches.
July 10
FOY engages First Mile Services LLC to design Friends of Yamasaki’s website.
September 12
FOY participates at the opening of the 2024 Asian & Pacific Islander Americans in Historic Preservation conference held in Seattle.
September 19
Allied Arts of Seattle invites FOY to participate in a “Beer and Culture” public presentation, tentatively scheduled in early 2025. The PSC director, board, and project team will also be invited.
September 25
FOY Strategy Meeting is held at Historic Seattle with key stakeholders.
October 5
Tyler Sprague, UW Associate Professor, makes a presentation at the Weitzman School of Design, University of Pennsylvania’s conference “Cement Age/ Concrete Nation” on “A ‘Virtuoso Performance’ in Pre-stressed Concrete: The US Science Pavilion at the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair.” His presentation highlights the need for a sensitive preservation of the PSC Yamasaki pools.
November 15
Tyler Sprague (lead), Paul Kidder, and FOY nominate Minoru Yamasaki for inclusion on the University of Washington College of Built Environments Roll of Honor. If the nomination is accepted by the UW’s Honor Roll jury,
Yamasaki’s name will be inscribed on the frieze in Architecture Hall’s Auditorium.
December 14
Friends of Yamasaki launches its website, https://friendsofyamasaki.org
Historical Artifact:
1962 Seattle World’s Fair Brochure
United States Science Exhibit, hosted by the US Department of Commerce.
Theme:
“Conquering, holding,
daring, venturing as we
go the unknown ways”
Walt Whitman — Leaves of Grass
United States Science Exhibit
Map of Science Exhibit
Exhibit Supporters 1962
What the Community Says
★★★★★
“Yamasaki’s vision of serenity was a radical one, like the utter purity of a Zen rock garden, yet a purity carried through to a rich array of sounds, textures, and variations of scale. It is this radical totality of serene vision that makes the plaza not merely pleasing but transporting, a quality that earned Yamasaki his reputation as a uniquely imaginative auteur. When we approach the plaza piecemeal, adding here and altering there, we risk losing the essence of the place and thus the reason for its status as an iconic work of architecture.”
Paul Kidder, PhD
Professor Emeritus, Philosophy, Seattle University – author of Minoru Yamasaki and the Fragility of Architecture
★★★★★
“Minoru Yamasaki intended the Pacific Science Center (then the U.S. Science Pavilion) to be a peaceful escape from a crowded, chaotic world, and the pools and fountains were the focal point of that experience; the entire design was oriented to the water features. To alter or replace those features will remove the heart of the complex and destroy the integrity of Yamasaki’s vision.”
Dale Allen Gyure, JD, PhD
Dept. of Architecture Chair and Professor – Lawrence Technological University, Southfield, Michigan – author of Minoru Yamasaki: Humanist Architecture for a Modernist World