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Sandfuture
An account of the life and work of the architect Minoru Yamasaki that leads the author to consider how (and for whom) architectural history is written.
Sandfuture is a book about the life of the architect Minoru Yamasaki (1912-1986), who remains on the margins of history despite the enormous influence of his work on American architecture and society. That Yamasaki’s most famous projects—the Pruitt-Igoe apartments in St. Louis and the original World Trade Center in New York—were both destroyed on national television, thirty years apart, makes his relative obscurity all the more remarkable.
Sandfuture is also a book about an artist interrogating art and architecture’s role in culture as New York changes drastically after a decade bracketed by terrorism and natural disaster. From the central thread of Yamasaki’s life, Sandfuture spirals outward to include reflections on a wide range of subjects, from the figure of the architect in literature and film and transformations in the contemporary art market to the perils of sick buildings and the broader social and political implications of how, and for whom, cities are built. The result is at once sophisticated in its understanding of material culture and novelistic in its telling of a good story.
Sandfuture is a book about the life of the architect Minoru Yamasaki (1912-1986), who remains on the margins of history despite the enormous influence of his work on American architecture and society. That Yamasaki’s most famous projects—the Pruitt-Igoe apartments in St. Louis and the original World Trade Center in New York—were both destroyed on national television, thirty years apart, makes his relative obscurity all the more remarkable.
Sandfuture is also a book about an artist interrogating art and architecture’s role in culture as New York changes drastically after a decade bracketed by terrorism and natural disaster. From the central thread of Yamasaki’s life, Sandfuture spirals outward to include reflections on a wide range of subjects, from the figure of the architect in literature and film and transformations in the contemporary art market to the perils of sick buildings and the broader social and political implications of how, and for whom, cities are built. The result is at once sophisticated in its understanding of material culture and novelistic in its telling of a good story.
256 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
October 26, 2021
This is one of those books that is so full of interesting ideas and information that, in the end, it is almost impossible to succinctly describe what it is about. At the centre of the narrative is Japanese-American architect Minoru Yamasaki who designed the World Trade Center but it is not explicitly a biography nor a treatise on the collapse of architectural modernism (literally). Woven into this tale is the author's own exploration of the meanings of art and architecture, and the range of factors—economic, structural, political—that come in to play when buildings are designed and built al juxtaposed against an account of his journey from working artist to family man. At a point I wondered if this hybrid effort was too ambitious to succeed, but somehow it all manages to come together seamlessly.
A longer review can be found here: https://roughghosts.com/2021/10/25/to...
A longer review can be found here: https://roughghosts.com/2021/10/25/to...
July 29, 2021
When I saw Sandfuture on Netgalley, I knew it would be an impressive tale – the blurb didn’t pull any punches, telling me I was about to discover the life and the works of Minoru Yamasaki, architect.
[Keep reading Bookshelves & Teacups]
[Keep reading Bookshelves & Teacups]
January 10, 2022
More a stream of thought than a book about the architect
I did learn about Yamasaki’s legacies, and mistakes in “Sandfuture” but I found the author’s narrative frustrating. Justin Beal’s stream of consciousness that strings his novel together is without a center. Yes, large dehumanizing buildings that are common in a capitalist world demonstrate that money always wins out over individualism, but the author seems to forget they also inspire and give definition to a cities identity. Yamasaki is once again not given the respect he deserves in this disappointing book.
I did learn about Yamasaki’s legacies, and mistakes in “Sandfuture” but I found the author’s narrative frustrating. Justin Beal’s stream of consciousness that strings his novel together is without a center. Yes, large dehumanizing buildings that are common in a capitalist world demonstrate that money always wins out over individualism, but the author seems to forget they also inspire and give definition to a cities identity. Yamasaki is once again not given the respect he deserves in this disappointing book.
May 14, 2025
Random pickup at bookstore in WV - few reviews online. Ended up being one of the most interesting nonfiction books I’ve read in a long time, in the vein of a shorter Power Broker (though not about power explicitly, but 20th century urban planning). Really liked the creative use of author’s own memoir interspersed with the Yamasaka’s life (who I didn’t know anything about prior to reading).
April 8, 2024
The second book for the springtime book club.
It's a weird comparison, but I told this group this reminded me of Devil in the White City. For those not familiar with that layout, the chapters alternate between HH Holmes and the architect for the World Fair. In that, I was more intrigued by the HH Holmes chapters and not the architect ones. Well, here, I was more invested in the architecture chapters and not the chapters about the author and his partner.
Well, sections. I don't think there was a single chapter in this entire book.
The author sections were focused on Hurricane Sandy, preserving art from the flood that results, his partner's migraines, and that's all I care to remember.
Now the good part – Yama the architect. If there is one main takeaway from his journey it has to be your work can't consume your life. You have to set boundaries, otherwise you'll develop stomach ulcers, have a surgery to remove parts of your stomach, and sustain a heavy drinking problem. Oh, Yama. Granted, not all of that could be attributed to his work obsession – we have to address the blatant racism he experienced or saw as a Japanese American growing up in the 1940s.
I still can't get over how he designed a base and wasn't allowed to visit it because of his heritage. It was also eye opening to learn how Asian Americans were treated in Detroit as Hyundai and Toyota started to become more popular in the states later in his life. Oh! And we can't forget how he was featured by a magazine and the staff chose to dress his white wife from California in a kimono.
I like how I said "now the good part" and I immediately dove into trauma.
The forreal good part was reading about Yama's career and how far he got. How he created beautiful works, many still present today, and built a life and team. He was the one who designed the Twin Towers. I could go into how his true creativity was squashed or limited by politics or budgets, but you know, let's leave it with his designs. What a true gift he had.
It's a weird comparison, but I told this group this reminded me of Devil in the White City. For those not familiar with that layout, the chapters alternate between HH Holmes and the architect for the World Fair. In that, I was more intrigued by the HH Holmes chapters and not the architect ones. Well, here, I was more invested in the architecture chapters and not the chapters about the author and his partner.
Well, sections. I don't think there was a single chapter in this entire book.
The author sections were focused on Hurricane Sandy, preserving art from the flood that results, his partner's migraines, and that's all I care to remember.
Now the good part – Yama the architect. If there is one main takeaway from his journey it has to be your work can't consume your life. You have to set boundaries, otherwise you'll develop stomach ulcers, have a surgery to remove parts of your stomach, and sustain a heavy drinking problem. Oh, Yama. Granted, not all of that could be attributed to his work obsession – we have to address the blatant racism he experienced or saw as a Japanese American growing up in the 1940s.
I still can't get over how he designed a base and wasn't allowed to visit it because of his heritage. It was also eye opening to learn how Asian Americans were treated in Detroit as Hyundai and Toyota started to become more popular in the states later in his life. Oh! And we can't forget how he was featured by a magazine and the staff chose to dress his white wife from California in a kimono.
I like how I said "now the good part" and I immediately dove into trauma.
The forreal good part was reading about Yama's career and how far he got. How he created beautiful works, many still present today, and built a life and team. He was the one who designed the Twin Towers. I could go into how his true creativity was squashed or limited by politics or budgets, but you know, let's leave it with his designs. What a true gift he had.
December 14, 2021
I loved this blend of art, architecture, history and culture as the text follows Minoru Yamasaki’s life and Justin Beal, the author, in his move to New York and living there with his partner Nina. The way those two narratives coincide and interchange was fascinating. I enjoyed his examination of what buildings are for and modernism in America along with his insight into how our lives are touched by these subjects. I definitely would recommend this erudite collection of true stories to anyone! One thing I had decided the book was leading up to but wasn’t described was the actual event of the destruction of the World Trade Center. I know there are plenty of other books on the topic but I thought the juxtaposition of Yamasaki’s great achievement also being destroyed was relevant to the book. It was definitely hinted at in some parts. I was wondering how Beal would describe the event through his artistic and architectural lens of writing.
January 15, 2022
I picked up this book thinking having misunderstood it’s focus. Reading it was like discovering something completely unexpected - not just the life of an architect I was largely unfamiliar with, but the thoughts and life of the author as well. The ways in which Justin Beal wove these two together was a lovely read and I found the points of overlap between these two timelines and individuals quite thought provoking. For some, I think the ways in which some thoughts are open ended and not brought full circle might be frustrating, but I actually really liked the writing style. This book is a great concentration of personal moments, historical woes, and present day conundrums that all blend together beautifully!
November 5, 2021
A thoughtful text that touches rather deftly on a broad range of subjects. Drawing from a variety of disciplines and source materials, Sandfuture nicely examines the lineages, connections, and coincidences which intertwine the career of Minoru Yamasaki with the changing world of the late 20th century and into our contemporary moment. Perhaps most importantly, the text is engrossing and not overly bookish, making it pleasant to read. If anything, I wish there were footnote citations instead of end acknowledgments, personally, as there are many references and mentionings which would be nice to index to quickly and precisely.
January 11, 2025
3.75 stars - sandfuture is beautifully written, and each storyline is compelling. the book’s message on the place of failure in architectural history is one that will remain with me. i definitely empathize more with minoru yamasaki - he was human, and made mistakes in the pursuit of architecture. as the book states, the ultimate effect of architecture (especially boundary pushing architecture) is unknowable until it is built (and at that point, it’s too late to correct mistakes).
some moments felt too heavily self-serving / self-complimentary by the author, and the pharmaceutical storyline was not as compelling or related to the message as the others.
some moments felt too heavily self-serving / self-complimentary by the author, and the pharmaceutical storyline was not as compelling or related to the message as the others.
December 13, 2021
Remember the quote "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture"? Well, Beal has taken the first steps. This is a beautiful and heartbreaking book that bleeds passion and information in equal measure, studying the slow but utter rejection of Yamasaki by the architectural establishment in tandem with the fall from grace of Modernism's utopian ambitions, all alongside reflections of New York City post-Millennium. This is a great read that left me devastated, sad, and immediately nostalgic for the short but sweet time I spent eagerly turning its pages. My book of the year for 2021.
December 22, 2022
A unique book marrying memoir and an amateur interest in architecture, specifically the life and work of the pioneering modernist architect Minoru Yamasaki. I picked it up for its focus on the urban history of lower Manhattan starting from the construction of the World Trade Center, designed by Yamasaki and his associates, to Beal's experience dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, and finally the construction of 432 Park Avenue in Midtown, which was once the tallest 'residential' building in the world.
January 11, 2023
Easily one of the books on architecture I have enjoyed the most.
Sometimes it feels like a combination of interesting articles that hold grains of knowledge or great short stories. The chapter-less tempo at first is disconcerting but quickly gives it that bite sized writing allowing the efficient switching between Justin’s life, Yamasaki’s and the architectural insights. One of those books you find yourself marking pages and passages constantly, a good sign for me.
The second half of the book I found specially superb.
Sometimes it feels like a combination of interesting articles that hold grains of knowledge or great short stories. The chapter-less tempo at first is disconcerting but quickly gives it that bite sized writing allowing the efficient switching between Justin’s life, Yamasaki’s and the architectural insights. One of those books you find yourself marking pages and passages constantly, a good sign for me.
The second half of the book I found specially superb.
February 22, 2023
4+ stars actually, Sure you get Yamasaki and architecture, but this book gives you more; art, the art business, migraines, Novartis, the chicanery of the port authority, a wide ranging (shotgun blast) look at culture, or bits and pieces of it. It pops in to look here and there. Not that I didn't find that all interesting, nor did I disagree, but I could have used a little more Yamasaki, the zooming around felt like a really good pub group having a good time. Maybe I am too old to appreciate it more.
July 25, 2022
Cross-cutting, succinct architectural biography. Multiple short threads get woven together, though not bound as tightly as they might have been and not each as compelling as they could be. There is a compelling argument embedded here about the relationship between architecture, health, art, and bodily integrity. It lands with panache, content to be more evocative than conclusive. Worth reading as an interpretive architectural narrative.
December 24, 2023
I don't think I've yet read a book that so perfectly articulates the nuances of the rise and fall of modern architecture as this one. Beal's book is both Yamasaki's biography and Beal's own memoir, but it's so much more than that, using both narrative stems as a vehicle to chart the ideological trends and arcs of architecture past and present. I'm grateful this book exists. Its readers should be richer for it.
November 10, 2021
The first book in recent memory I’ve read cover to cover in one siting, so that says something.
June 26, 2022
Fabulous!
April 16, 2023
Wow love!!! Great for artists, New Yorkers, and artist-New Yorkers, but not just an architecture book!!
August 15, 2023
On buildings, the architect of WTC and many other projects, the new thin towers of Manhattan, the rise and fall and erosion.
March 25, 2024
3.5 stars!! It was incredibly interesting but I felt it lacked a culminating connector to bring the three “storylines” together.
September 15, 2024
A comprehensive architecture-centric biography of Yamasake, with musings about modernism and it's ethics paralleling the historical accounts.
August 27, 2025
May have been best book I read this year. Author vividly describes the built environment in New York while simultaneously providing background on Yamasaki’s life as well as his own
June 1, 2022
Knowing, historical/visceral. Migraines.
November 13, 2022
I liked the parts about Yamasaki, but was not smitten with the authorial self-insertion.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews