Which other US cities resemble Downtown Detroit's architecture?

[Gistok]

I was trying to find NYC buildings that had large fancy interiors like the Guardian and Fisher Buildings do [[maybe even the David Whitney).

The Empire State Building lobby is mainly unadorned marble of different colors. Chrysler Building has fancy elevator doors, but the lobby is pretty tame. Rockefeller Center had its' Diego Rievera murals ripped out, with a dull replacement. I know the Wolworth Building has a nice interior... as does the Barclay Vessey near ground zero... but I can't find anything quite as fancy as the Guardian and Fisher.

Of course these NYC towers [[except for the 1913 Woolworth's and 1923 Barclay-Vessey Buildings) were built after the stock market crash, and Art Deco was heading for the streamlined version.

[Bham1982]

but I can't find anything quite as fancy as the Guardian and Fisher.

There are tons. 11 Madison, 1 Hanson Place, 195 Broadway, Equitable Bldg., Waldorf Astoria, Hearst Tower, One Wall St.

One Wall is probably my favorite prewar building entrance/lobby anywhere. It's almost unreal.

[Jason]

I would say Los Angeles.

The art deco buildings there have a similar kind of clean refined aesthetic to them.

I would also say there's a relation between mid century modernism in both cities.

[Worldsgreatest]

It doesn't really come close, Detroit's art deco shits all over New York's mostly bland examples that are usually copies of other city's examples. I think even Chicago does it better. New York has quantity but shit quality.

[Worldsgreatest]

There are tons. 11 Madison, 1 Hanson Place, 195 Broadway, Equitable Bldg., Waldorf Astoria, Hearst Tower, One Wall St.

One Wall is probably my favorite prewar building entrance/lobby anywhere. It's almost unreal.

I just googled all of those and none of them are even comparable to Guardian and Fisher. You have questionable taste. Hearst tower isn't even prewar it was built inside a shell.

[archfan]

I just googled all of those and none of them are even comparable to Guardian and Fisher. You have questionable taste. Hearst tower isn't even prewar it was built inside a shell.

You're going have a hard time finding anything to match the Guardian's lobby. Whether that makes it better, or just unique, I'm not sure. It was certainly designed with all the exuberance that Detroit's nouveau riche could manage.

[Gistok]

You're going have a hard time finding anything to match the Guardian's lobby. Whether that makes it better, or just unique, I'm not sure. It was certainly designed with all the exuberance that Detroit's nouveau riche could manage.

Absolutely correct! Part of its' uniqueness was that the architect convinced the Union Trust owners that by saving money on using brick [[that "Guardian orange" brick) instead of more expensive quarried stone, they could lavish more money on the exuberant interior.

Also 1929 was not only the start of the depression, but Art Deco was going from the zig-zag style of Art Deco, to the streamlined moderne version found in the 1930s... still quality materials [[lots of marble), but no longer the fancy details as found in the 1920s.

Same thing happened to the movie palaces at that time. Big change between the 1928 Detroit Fox and the 1932 Radio City Music Hall.

[Danny]

The World Trade Towers in N.Y.C. now destroyed resembles The Old Mich-Con Building now owned by Dan Gilbert. By Minoru Yamasaki and Associates.

The Westin Bonaventure Hotel was the first prototype building that looks-like The Renaissance Center Building in Downtown [[Gilbert town) Detroit. Built by John C. Portman Jr. The 1980's TV show "It's a Living" had b-roll footage scenes of the hotel.

[Zacha341]

^^^ Minoru Yamasaki was the World Trade Towers architect!

[Bham1982]

It doesn't really come close, Detroit's art deco shits all over New York's mostly bland examples that are usually copies of other city's examples. I think even Chicago does it better. New York has quantity but shit quality.

...said no architect critic, knowledgeable design person, or major property owner, ever.

You're like the Dotard of Detroit boosterism. Just take the exact opposite everything you say, confidently assume every word is naked projection, and you'll get a pretty accurate read of reality.

[Worldsgreatest]

You're going have a hard time finding anything to match the Guardian's lobby. Whether that makes it better, or just unique, I'm not sure. It was certainly designed with all the exuberance that Detroit's nouveau riche could manage.

True. there really is nothing like in in the country-or world? It's like a cathedral but also an office building.

[rb336]

The World Trade Towers in N.Y.C. now destroyed resembles The Old Mich-Con Building now owned by Dan Gilbert. By Minoru Yamasaki and Associates.

The Westin Bonaventure Hotel was the first prototype building that looks-like The Renaissance Center Building in Downtown [[Gilbert town) Detroit. Built by John C. Portman Jr. The 1980's TV show "It's a Living" had b-roll footage scenes of the hotel.

RenCen started construction a year prior to the Bonaventure. The Bonaventure was a scaled-down version.

Yamasaki used One Woodward as a template for the Twin Towers.

[Gistok]

I had forgotten that I started a thread on the SkyscraperCity forum about Detroit architectural treasures about 7 years ago.... got a lot of WOW!!s back then....

https://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1520520

[lester wild]

Detroit was the welthiest city per-capita in the country at the time [[outside of NYC).

Art Deco was seen as a status symbol for those with money in that era, so most cities won't compare to Detroit in terms of scale.

Everything in the last 120 years has probably been 'outside of NYC' but Detroit was world class. You don't build the beautiful neighborhoods [[and bustling downtown) that Detroit was famous for, without having wealth, influence, and power to back it up.