Preserve America, National Trust and Finlandia Foundation Are Key Supporters of the Project

May 29, 2009

Communities are often defined by their architecture: San Francisco by its Victorian buildings, Baltimore by its row houses, and Chicago by its innovative skyscrapers. The State Historic Preservation Office wants to create a new image for Michigan, using its Modern architectural resources and design heritage.

In June the State Historic Preservation Office will hold a meeting at the Cranbrook Academy of Art - a gathering of select architects, academics, community development professionals and others with expertise in Modern design - as the first step in a project that will document Michigan's Modern architecture from the period 1940 to 1970 and, ultimately, make the information available to the public online.

"This project is an opportunity to inspire people think about Michigan differently," said Michigan Historical Center Director Sandra Clark. "Michigan led in the area of design. Automotive designers, furniture makers like Herman Miller of Zeeland, and the School of Architecture at the University of Michigan, made the state a percolator for great Modernist design."

"After World War II, the Cranbrook Academy of Art, under the leadership of Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen, attracted some of the world's best designers and artists. Many of the architects associated with California's modern architecture studied at Cranbrook and got their start in Michigan," explained State Historic Preservation Officer Brian Conway.

"There is great interest right now in Mid Century Modern architecture and decorative arts. We feel Michigan has an untapped potential to attract international tourists and younger travelers and a niche market of creative people interested in Modernist architectural design," Conway said. "We want people to come to Michigan and see dynamic modern architecture that is among the best in the world, and we want Michiganians to appreciate the important contribution the state made to the history of design. Saarinen and Cranbrook were as important to the world of design as Henry Ford was to manufacturing. This is an opportunity for a vibrant yet unsung piece of Michigan's history to come to light."

With grants of $118,000 from the National Park Service's Preserve America program, $4,000 from the Johanna Favrot Fund of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and $2,000 from the Finlandia Foundation, the Michigan Modern project is off to a strong start.

The Michigan History Foundation is seeking an additional $126,000 in funding to reach the Michigan Modern project goal of $250,000. Inquiries can be directed to (517) 335-2796, ClarkPL@michigan.gov or www.michigan.gov/mhfoundation. As part of the Michigan Modern project, the SHPO plans to record oral histories of practicing architects from the time; identify, research and photograph 100 Modern resources; prepare a National Register of Historic Places nomination for 10 properties; create driving tours; and develop a Michigan Modern Web site.

Some of the most significant known Modern architects and resources associated with Michigan include:

• Cranbrook Academy of Art. Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen was named the first president of the Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1932. The creative atmosphere Saarinen established at Cranbrook attracted some of the most significant Modern artists including designers Charles and Ray Eames and architects Ralph Rapson and Harry Weese. Cranbrook was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989.
  
  
• Saarinen, Swanson, and Saarinen and the General Motors Technical Center. Eliel Saarinen established the firm of Saarinen, Swanson, and Saarinen with his son Eero and son-in-law Robert Swanson in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., in 1937. During World War II, the firm also created the Willow Run Housing Units for the Willow Run Bomber Plant in Ypsilanti. Little of the work of either of the Saarinen firms in Michigan has been identified, documented or protected. Led by Eero Saarinen, who became one of the world's best-known Modern architects, the firm along with the landscape architect Thomas Church created what is considered one of America's greatest Modern architecture achievements, the General Motors Technical Center in Warren, Mich.
  
  
• Herman Miller Furniture Company, George Nelson and Charles Eames. Architect George Nelson was hired by the Herman Miller Furniture Company in 1945 to update its product line. Nelson became one of the most celebrated Modern designers in America and gained fame for his Storagewall System and Ball Clock. Nelson brought other creative design talent to Herman Miller including Charles and Ray Eames, Isamu Noguchi and Alexander Girard. While working with Herman Miller in the 1940s and 1950s, George Nelson and Charles Eames designed homes for co-workers and friends and undertook a few commercial commissions. Charles Eames designed a house in Zeeland, Mich., for the president of Herman Miller, Max De Pree.
  
  
• Minoru Yamasaki. Attracted to Michigan in 1945 to work with the Detroit architectural firm of Smith, Hinchman & Grylls, Yamasaki became a world-renowned Modern architect best known for designing the World Trade Center in New York City. A preliminary search identified over 14 Yamasaki-designed buildings in the Detroit area alone, including significant works such as the Michigan Consolidated Gas Company Building at One Woodward Avenue and the Reynolds Metals Building in Southfield. Few have been documented or designated.
  
  
• Alden B. Dow Home and Studio. One of Michigan's premier modern architects, Alden Dow was the son of Herbert Dow, founder of the Dow Chemical Company. Alden Dow studied at the Taliesin School under Frank Lloyd Wright. A large concentration of Dow's work exists in his hometown of Midland, Mich., where he designed residences, schools, churches, hospitals and bank, civic and library buildings - even a gas station. Later in his career Dowdesigned a number of community college campuses across Michigan. Alden Dow's home and studio in Midland were designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989.
  
  
• Work of Other Internationally Known Architects in Michigan. A number of world-class Modern architects and firms designed buildings in Michigan that have yet to be documented or designated. These include Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill's Vandenberg City-County complex in Grand Rapids, with its Alexander Calder sculpture; Marcel Breuer's Grosse Pointe Public Library and the St. Frances de Sales Catholic Church in Muskegon, which is considered to be among his best work. Ingersoll Village in Kalamazoo was developed by the Ingersoll Steel Company to showcase its steel "utility core." Modern architects such as Hugh Stubbins, Edward Durrell Stone, George Keck and Alden Dow were asked to design homes for the village to create a "Modern" community. This unique resource is not designated or protected.
  
  
• Lafayette Park and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. The collaborating team of real estate financier Herbert Greenwald, architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and urban planner Ludwig Hilberseimer created the 78-acre urban renewal housing development, Lafayette Park, in Detroit in the 1950s and mid-1960s. The community includes townhouses, apartment towers, a school and shopping center designed by van der Rohe. The sleek International style buildings are complemented by a 19-acre central park and grounds designed by landscape architect Alfred Caldwell. Lafayette Park is considered to be the largest collection of van der Rohe buildings in the world and among his best work. Though listed on the National Register, an article in the December 2008 issue of Dwell magazine called it "unsung and unknown."
  
  
• Usonian Houses of Frank Lloyd Wright. Michigan has the third largest collection of Wright-designed buildings in the nation, with a high concentration of resources from his post-war Usonian period. These include two co-operative communities established by Upjohn Company scientists near Kalamazoo in 1946 and the Goetsch-Winkler House in Okemos, the Palmer House in Ann Arbor, the Affleck House in Bloomfield Hills and the Turkell-Benbow House in Detroit.
  
  
• Michigan Modern Architects. Perhaps most importantly, this project will identify the work of Michigan-based architects and architectural firms that were responsible for the design of significant Modern buildings within the state. Examples include Smith, Hinchman, and Grylls; Gunnar Birkerts; Harley, Ellington and Day; Giffels and Rosetti; Louis Redstone; Meathe, Kessler, and Associates; Bowd-Munson; Ralph S. Gerganoffi; and Ralph C. Calder.

The State Historic Preservation Office is a division of the Michigan Historical Center, part of the Department of History, Arts and Libraries (HAL). Dedicated to enriching quality of life and strengthening the economy by providing access to information, preserving and promoting Michigan's heritage and fostering cultural creativity, HAL also includes the Library of Michigan, the Mackinac Island State Park Commission and the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs.

Read more press releases from the Department of History, Arts and Libraries (HAL).