Detroit's influence on Yamasaki and Saarinen

[Patrick]

I have always wondered how an actual city can influence an artist or architect. We always hear about NYC and London and how these cities have influenced some of the most creative people in our time. I was curious to know how and if Detroit had any influence on the works of Minoru Yamasaki and Eero Saarinen. Specifically Detroit though.

Do you think the region and city itself had any influence on the way they perceived and created architecture? Both architects are in a group of maybe 15 of the most important architects of the last century and Detroit had to have at least some influence.

[Detroitnerd]

I have always wondered how an actual city can influence an artist or architect. We always hear about NYC and London and how these cities have influenced some of the most creative people in our time. I was curious to know how and if Detroit had any influence on the works of Minoru Yamasaki and Eero Saarinen. Specifically Detroit though.

Do you think the region and city itself had any influence on the way they perceived and created architecture? Both architects are in a group of maybe 15 of the most important architects of the last century and Detroit had to have at least some influence.

Maybe the story of modern architecture is the story of money: Unlimited sums of money, big plans, all showered on architects who think so darn big they ignore human scale, demanding huge projects that must be viewed from a distance. I think the Saarinens bucked that trend best. But Yamasaki fit hand-in-glove with the new, big-money, car-oriented planning, perhaps starting with the huge Chrysler development in Troy.

[Lorax]

Super thread topic!

I think that Detroit, historically was never a hot-spot for innovative architecture- more reactive, perhaps, to what was being built in other cities, and adopting the vernacular of other regions.

The best of this, it could be argued, came in the form of buildings like the David Whitney, Ford, and Dime buildings- innovative designs by Daniel Burnham.

The Hammond and Majestic buildings were important only from being such early examples of the skyscraper/iron skeleton structures- design wise they were typical of the period in many cities.

Louis Kamper was prolific, as was Albert Kahn, with Kamper being notable for his evolution from classicism to skyscrapers, and how decorating buildings became a holdover on designs for taller buildings that were better suited for clean, linear surfaces.

Albert Kahn I have often said is perhaps the most influential on later architects- he was capable of things such as the Packard Plant, and at the other end of the spectrum, the Fisher Building.

Yamasaki and Saarinen are certainly in the pantheon of major design forces in 20th century architecture. If I had to surmise how and if Detroit was instrumental, I would certainly say Kahn's scope and variation in design, Smith Hinchman & Grylls for their incredible history and evolution to clean lines and verticality in their 1920's designs, and oddly, perhaps the Detroit Society of Arts & Crafts, which had long championed the basic nature of design, stripping away extraneous design elements, returning architecture to it's basics.

Certainly Saarinen was influenced by this, and the society's natural outgrowth at Cranbrook, where he was later a large player.

Yamasaki is a favorite of mine- I consider his Michingan Consolidated Gas Building his masterpiece in skyscraper design, and the MacGregor conference center his mini-masterpiece.

A third contender is the Reynolds Metals Building in Southfield, now a Bally's. The use of backlit gold anodized aluminum decorative screening is masterful, and invites light itself to be part of the total design.

What is disappointing is the way in which the MacGregor conference center is maintained- the Japanese gardens and terraces were in a terrible state of repair the last time I visited, and needs a full restoration.

As to Yamasaki's influences, if I had to guess, he was influenced to a degree by Kahn, and perhaps Sarrinen locally, and the Bauhaus, LeCorbusier and Johnston elsewhere.

Great thread- let's see what others think!

[Patrick]

I wonder, and it may be a long shot, if the automotive designs played an effect on the works of William kessler, Yamasaki and others in the region.

[Detroitnerd]

Patrick, that's the subject of a book that came out this year. "From Autos to Architecture" [[Princeton Architectural Press, $60) is about how automotive mass production techniques might have helped inspire the clean lines of modernist architects.

[Patrick]

Detroit offered a landscape full of deisig freedom as well as lots of cash for architects in the post-war era. See the Parcells house on the lake in GP which was designed by Paul Rudolph. Even to have Marcel Breuer come to GPP and design the library was and still is considered a coup

[Lorax]

I used the Breuer designed library growing up in Grosse Pointe, and love the Calder mobile still hanging there. I certainly hope all of that discussion about demolishing it for a faux-colonial style library has ended.

As far as auto design influence, I would venture to say yes, it's quite obvious there was a great deal of influence.

One of my businesses is the restoration of mid-century modern furniture and lighting. An interesting story that repeats itself in several furniture factories in the US involves former automotive designers/engineers hired by furniture manufacturers to produce furniture in keeping with the lines of automobiles at the time.

Firms like American of Martinsville, Metz Furnture, Kent Coffey amongst others designed cabinets, tables, and chairs with sweeping lines and rakish angles, pulled from the leading automotive designs of the day. Hardware was almost exclusively supplied in the states by the Keeler Brass Works, once based in Michigan, which had amazing hardware designs, some of which could be misconstrued with car trim or hood ornaments.

Much of the metal detail in Yamasaki's as well as Saarinen's designs for the GM Tech Center in Warren, could claim automotive design as an influence.

Yamasaki's gold anodized screening for the Reynold's Metals Building were actually concepted through Alcoa at the time- they were one of the few firms doing architectural aluminum. Once there was alot of it here in Florida, now mostly scrapped, though a few examples still remain.

[j to the jeremy]

Lorax, I believe a restoration of the reflecting pools at McGregor and the DeRoy auditorium are coming in the near future at Wayne State.

[Lorax]

Fantastic!!

Glad to hear it. It's long overdue. When I was there last, the water was gone, the concrete was scaling and rocky, and the plantings dismal.

This is super news. Thanks!

[DetroitPlanner]

Both of these dudes built using a lot of glass and metal. Not exactly condusive to our winters.

I would think that the most inspired work would come from Kahn's industrial work. I agree with Lorax on that. Albert was the father of the single-floor factory with lots of windows that open for providing light and ventilation in the hot summer days. These innovations both simplified production lines and improved working conditions.

Saarrien did put the general Civic Center groupings in order, though what was executed was most different that his original plan.

[Patrick]

Can we see a reflection of industry in their work? The St Louis Arch for example would be a good example of "industrial influence" wouldnt you say?

[markseth]

For those interested in the work of Seattle native Minoru Yamasaki, you should see one of his masterworks in downtown Seattle- the 40 story inverted pyramid Rainier Tower. It is a very unusual and still controversial building. Detroit is fortunate to have many more examples of his work.

[Lorax]

Yamasaki brought to architecture what Noguchi brought to sculpture, and what Issey Miyake brought to fashion.

Clean, spare, and tight. Superb lines, form, and use of light and openess- the lobby of the MICHCON bldg. as a superb example.

Albert Kahn was indeed the father when it comes to the industrial use of light, space, and efficiency.

Another motif in Yamasaki's architecture made famous by both the MICHCON bldg. and later at the WTC, are the slender diamond shaped windows lined up between vertical piers of molded concrete, casting light and shadow on the interiors to great effect. His was the first memorable use of this technique, and is as fresh and innovative a design motif today as it was decades ago.

Can you tell I love his work?

[Lorax]

What is particularly disturbing about much of today's architecture is the amount of crass politics that have worked it's way into the process of creating great buildings.

In the past, architects, or as they are now called "Starchitects" were trained in such a way as to be bold, innovative, and had the backing of individuals, or heads of organizations who thought similarly.

Design by committe killed automotive design, as it has architecture, with few exceptions.

My favorites of late would include Santiago Calatrava, Architectonica, Ghery.

Caesar Pelli flopped with his Miami Performing Arts Center- attending the opera there, the sight lines are blocked by walls where railings should be in the box seats, and the acoustics fail miserably as well.

I would hope going forward that the more exposure greats of the past like Yamasaki get the full recognition they deserve.

It would be great to see a Yamasaki book amongst the dozens of Lloyd Wright retreads out there.

[Gistok]

It's sad that C. Howard Crane, Detroit's wizard of opulent movie palace wasn't given more commissions,or is better known.

His classic architectural talents of the early 20th century not only included the interiors of movie palaces, but the exuberant exteriors of his buildings as well. His Cambodian Baroque exterior of the Fox Building was unique, and his classic exteriors of the Palms, Capitol, United Artists and Lafayette Buildings are classics.

Sadly he never got many non-theatre skyscraper commissions. His greatest skyscraper was Columbus's Leveque Tower, which had a verticality that neither Wirt Rowland nor Albert Kahn matched in their tall Detroit towers [[although the Guardian Building doesn't lack verticality). The Leveque tower was considered by many as one of America's finest Art Deco towers, and is reminiscent of the towering Nebraska State Capitol, and some of the soaring towers on NYC Wall Street.

Leveque Tower:
http://images.google.com/images?hl=e...ed=0CCIQsAQwAw

Also, sadly all of his 1930's Moderne commissions were done in Britain, when he moved there in 1930, and built many Art Deco cinemas and London's moderne Earls Court Exposition Center, which is reminiscent of the Rackham Building.

And as we all know, Crane designed old Olympia, the exotic Fisher Mansion [[Hare Krishna), and an assortment of other homes of rich Detroiters.

One of Crane's quirks was that every building he did, was unique.... there was no "Crane style"... [[even in his movie palaces) something that cannot be said of a lot of architects of the 20th century, where identifying the architect is not difficult in their built designs.

Sorry to threadjack...

[Patrick]

The home in Palmer Woods that Crane designed for Kunsky is amazing.^^^ It doesnt really have any one single style

[ziggyselbin]

Lets not forget Kessler his stuff is pretty good. I am a huge fan of mid century. I do wonder if Ford aud is gonna get more props here on this thread. Detroit actually has quite an abundance of mid century stuff if one looks.

[cman710]

For those of you interested in Detroit architecture, I'd recommend the AIA Detroit guide as a stocking stuffer this holiday season. A friend of mine purchased this for me several years ago, and it's quite an interesting little book. Even for those of you who are experts on Detroit's architecture, I am sure you will learn something new from this book. The book is a little bit outdated [[several buildings in the book no longer stand), but nonetheless a great resource.

[p69rrh51]

You can add Robert O. Derrick. Even though he is known for his residential commissions, some of his best work is of all things parking garages.

[polaar]

Car windshields influence Saarinen!

According to this WSJ piece:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...256592530.html

"The General Motors Technical Center, completed in 1954 outside of Detroit, was a 17-building complex of Miesian precision that flouted that modernist master's formal, neutral aesthetic with brilliant color and the use of neoprene gaskets to seal the windows, a technology borrowed from car windshields."

[Patrick]

You can add Robert O. Derrick. Even though he is known for his residential commissions, some of his best work is of all things parking garages.

I never knew that. Are any still standing?

[sg9018]

Sad news relating to Yamasaki architecture firm. It is closing down due to bad debts,
http://www.freep.com/article/2010010...-firm-to-close

January 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.

Yamasaki died in 1986, and for almost a quarter century his former partners carried on, designing office buildings in Oakland County and commissions in the Middle East, where Yamasaki himself had had a thriving practice. But the worldwide recession and credit crunch contributed to the firm’s collapse.

Modris “Mike” Pudists, a long-time designer who retired from Yamasaki last spring after 46 years, lamented the end of the firm.

“I think that after Yama’s death we managed pretty well. We were up to almost 100 people a year and a half ago. But what are you going to do when the jobs basically dried up?”

Jack Finn, director of the state’s Wage & Hour Division of the state Department of Energy, Labor & Economic Growth, said several Yamasaki employees have filed complaints with the division over unpaid wages.

Meanwhile, other firms that had done business with Yamasaki complained of not getting paid, with the debt often running into tens of thousands of dollars.

“It’s sad that the Yama name ends up like this,” said Anthony Gholz, Jr., vice president of design for the firm DiClemente Siegel Design in Southfield, which was owned money by the Yamasaki firm. Yamasaki “had such a connection to so many people in the professional community here in Detroit. It’s just not the way a firm should end.”
Contact JOHN GALLAGHER : 313-222-5173 or gallagher@freepress.

[buildingsofdetroit]

I was curious to know how and if Detroit had any influence on the works of Minoru Yamasaki and Eero Saarinen. Specifically Detroit though.

“The old City Hall is a very ugly building.� - Minoru Yamasaki.
I beg to disagree with him [[http://buildingsofdetroit.com/places/cityhall) and think One Woodward is an ugly eyesore - and the World Trade Center wasn't much prettier.

[MichMatters]

I'm completely surprised by the folding of Yamasaki Associates. They'd not shown any public signs of distress. What a terrible uneventful way for such a storied firm and name to end.

[Detroitnerd]

I think maybe the fix was in 10-15 years ago. I remember reading about an architecture symposium at the DIA years ago. Detroit's architecture establishment was shocked to find that planners and architects from the East thought that our designs here were muscle-flexing, flashy, unintegrated and crude. Strip windows and glass windows, one impersonal facade after another, and lots and lots of parking lots. I think John Gallagher covered it for the paper. Kind of a come-down for Detroit firms like Yamasaki, which pioneered integrated developments, to hear that area designers simply focused on their showy buildings and ignored the principles of urban design.

Maybe Yamasaki & Associates never had the same drive after losing Yamasaki. I don't have the inside knowledge. But I think they've managed to hang on here because we still try to build things that way. Detroit architectural design [[and esp. its urban planning components) have been regressive here, and perhaps the company was able to eke out a living here, trading on the name of the paterfamilias. But now that nobody's really building much here anymore, maybe it's finally time to cash in.

Particularly dismayed to see Yamasaki's dismissal of City Hall, which only confirms my opinion that Modernism was wedded to the bulldozer.