In Memory of Zaha Hadid
April 1, 2016
Few individuals have the ability to transform entire professions like Zaha Hadid did in her relatively short career as an architect. On the surface it would seem that the deck was stacked against her being born a woman in Iraq. Through pure determination, she became one of the most recognized and respected figures in […]
College of Education
March 23, 2016
It is no secret that Detroit public schools are in need of improvement. We’ve seen images of mushrooms growing in damp corners of classrooms, gymnasium floors look like a scene from Tremors, and broken furnaces forcing children and teachers to wear winter coats inside. However, when it comes to institutions of higher education, Wayne State University […]
Brutal Breuer
March 15, 2016
As mentioned in a previous post, Marcel Breuer’s Saint Francis de Sales Church in Norton Shores, Michigan was my introduction to true Brutalist architecture. Since that pivotal day, I’ve become infatuated with the style and have been itching to return to the building that started it all. The weather in Michigan is becoming more Spring-like […]
New Formalism
March 3, 2016
Since its inception, “Modern” architecture has held a reputation for cold and sterile designs among its critics. Regardless of the validity of this argument, a number of great architects sought to soften the perception of the era’s most in vogue style; one of those great architects was Minoru Yamasaki. Around the time he started his own […]
Detroit’s Metabolism
February 25, 2016
The Metabolism movement arose in Japan in response to a lack of cohesive city planning efforts after the first World War. The self-proclaimed Metabolists introduced their manifesto to the world in 1960 at an international design conference held in Japan. The philosophy was centered around the idea of “organic growth,” which was applied to buildings as well as entire cities. […]
Brutalism in Detroit
February 12, 2016
One of the reasons I love Detroit is because of its rich architectural history and wide variety of styles. An enthusiast of any era can find gems in any given corner of the city; Gothic, Renaissance Revival, Art Deco, Modern, Postmodern, and everything in between. One style that generates perhaps the most polarizing emotions […]
