Architecture of Metropolitan Detroit - Skyscrapers

Skyscrapers

In the 1880s, Gilded Age architects such as Gordon Lloyd, Harry J. Rill, and others, who had designed churches and homes, turned their attention to office and commercial buildings. They designed some of Detroit's ornately stone-carved nineteenth century tall buildings, many of which are still standing. Lloyd's Romanesque six-story iron-framed Wright-Kay (1891) at 1500 Woodward Ave and his R. H. Traver Building (1889) at 1211 Woodward are prime examples. The Wright-Kay or Schwankovsky was among the first with an electric elevator. Rill designed the ornate Beaux-Arts facade of Detroit Cornice and Slate (1897) at 733 Antoine. The six-story Romanesque Globe Tobacco Building (1888) at 407 E. Fort built by Alexander Chapoton is another of the city's early surviving commercial buildings. Detroit's Victorian styled Randolph Street Historic District contains some of the city's oldest surviving commercial buildings. The commercial building at 1244 Randoph Street dates from the 1840s, a rare survivor from the Antebellum period.

At 12 stories, the steel-framed United Way Community Services Building (1895), at 1212 Griswold, originally known as the Chamber of Commerce Building, qualifies as Detroit's oldest existing historic skyscraper. The 10-story Hammond Building (1889), now demolished, is considered the city's first historic steel-framed skyscraper. The Qube in the Detroit Financial District now stands on the Hammond Building site.

Though too numerous to list, the city has a surprising number of architecturally significant late nineteenth and early twentieth century buildings and skyscrapers. Daniel Burnham, Louis Kamper, and the Smith Hinchman & Grylls firm are among the architects who designed some of the city's other important skyscrapers at the turn of the century which endure today. Burnham's three remaining Detroit skyscraper designs are the Neo-Classical styled Chrysler House (1912) — renovated in 2002, and the Neo-Renaissance Whitney (1915) and Ford (1909) buildings. Among their early projects Smith Hinchman & Grylls designed the Neo-Gothic R.H. Fyfe Building (1919) at Woodward and Adams, now a residential high-rise.

While some cities have demolished historic structures to make way for the new, Detroit has preserved a large number with many of its buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Even so, the city has many historic structures awaiting restoration. The most significant of these is the Michigan Central Station (1913) by Warren & Wetmore and Reed & Stem.

During the Roaring Twenties, Detroit's historic skyline arose. Louis Kamper designed the ornate Neo-Renaissance styled Book-Cadillac Hotel (1924), which opened as the world's tallest hotel at the time. The city's architectural legacy is rich in Art Deco style. Joseph L. Hudson, the department store magnate, had commissioned architect Hugh Ferriss to produce a series of renderings depicting new buildings for the city skyline. Hudson's department store window displayed the Ferriss drawings to commenorate its fiftieth anniversary as well as the opening of a new building for the Beaux-Arts, Italian Renaissance styled Detroit Institute of Arts (1927). Other architects would take up the task of designing the buildings roughly based on the Hugh Ferriss concepts which included the Guardian Building, the David Stott Building, the J.L Hudson Building, and others.

Albert Kahn designed what is now Cadillac Place (1923), with its Neo-Classical architecture, for General Motors. Kahn, sometimes called the architect of Detroit, originally worked for John Scott, the architect of the Wayne County Building (1897). It opened as the second largest office building in the world. The seven Fisher brothers who owned the automotive company Fisher Body essentially gave architect Kahn a blank check to design and build the most beautiful building in the world. This became Detroit's famous Fisher Building (1927) which, with its detailed work, has been called the city's largest art object; its opulent three story barrel vaulted lobby is constructed with forty different kinds of marble. Albert Kahn Associates chief architect for the Fisher Building was Joseph Nathaniel French. The Fisher Building and Cadillac Place are among the National Historic Landmarks in Detroit anchoring the city's historic New Center.

Architect Wirt C. Rowland played an integral role in crafting the city's historic skyline with his designs for the Buhl, Penobscot, and Guardian buildings. Rowland's design for the Buhl Building (1925) included a Gothic Revival design with a clever blend of Romanesque accents. Renowned Art Deco skyscrapers include Rowland's Penobscot (1928) and Guardian (1929), as well as Albert Kahn's Fisher Building (1928), and John M. Donaldson's David Stott Building (1929). Architectural tiles made from Pewabic Pottery by American ceramist Mary Chase Perry Stratton are a prominent feature in the Guardian Building's facade and decor.