World Trade Center design firm to close

[Bozita]

Source: Detroit Free Press

POSTED: 1:53 P.M. JAN. 8, 2010
World Trade Center design firm to close
BY JOHN GALLAGHER
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER


One of the most storied names in Detroit architecture, the firm Yamasaki Inc., has folded amid a sea of bad debts.

The Troy-based firm closed its doors this week owing money to employees and supplier firms. The owner, businessman Ted Ayoub, could not be reached for comment, but a published report suggested he was traveling in the Middle East and may not be returning to the U.S.

It remained unclear today whether Ayoub would try to reestablish the firm in another location, perhaps in the Middle East, or simply close it permanently.

The late Minoru Yamasaki founded his firm in the 1950s and soon became one of the world’s most sought-after modernists. He designed the World Trade Center towers in New York as well as many prominent buildings in Metro Detroit, including the McGregor Memorial Conference Center on Wayne State University’s Campus and the One Woodward Avenue office tower downtown.

Read more: http://www.freep.com/article/20100108/BUSINESS06/100108030/1320/World-Trade-Center-design-firm-to-close