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Designing Detroit: Wirt Rowland and the Rise of Modern American Architecture (Great Lakes Books Series)

Amazon.com Price:  $40.49 (as of 06/05/2019 15:22 PST- Details)

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Description

In the early 1900s, Detroit was leading the nation in architectural innovation and designer Wirt Rowland was at the forefront of this advancement, yet few are even aware of his substantial contribution to the evolution of architectural style. It is widely believed that celebrated local architect Albert Kahn designed many of Detroit’s structures, such as the General Motors and First National Bank buildings. If truth be told, at the same time as Kahn’s efforts were focused on running his highly successful firm, it was Rowland, his chief designer, who was responsible for the appearance and layout of these buildings-the most important point in appreciating the contributions of both Kahn and Rowland. Right through the early twentieth century, Rowland devised a wholly new or “modern” design for buildings, one not reliant on decorative elements copied from architecture of the past. As buildings became more specialized for their intended use, Rowland met the challenge with entirely new design methodologies and various improved technologies and materials that therefore became commonplace.

Designing Detroit: Wirt Rowland and the Rise of Modern American Architecture begins with a brief overview of Rowland’s early life and career. Writer Michael G. Smith goes on to analyze Rowland’s achievements in building design and as a leader of Detroit’s architectural community all through both World Wars and the Great Depression. The interdependence of architecture with the city’s fluctuating economic prosperity and population growth is explored, illuminating the conditions for good architecture and the arts in general. The Writer identifies the influence of Jay Hambidge’s “dynamic symmetry” in Rowland’s work and how it allowed him to employ color as a modern replacement for traditional ornamentation, leading to the revolutionary design of the Union Consider (Guardian) Building, for which he receives nearly unanimous praise in national media. This book is concerned primarily with Rowland’s influence on Detroit architecture, but spans beyond his work in Michigan to include the designer’s broad reach from New York to Miami. A comprehensive appendix includes extensive lists of Rowland’s publications, locations he had designed, and jobs taken on by his firm Right through his tenure.

This book represents new research and insights not in the past discussed in either scholarly or general audience texts and will be of interest to casual readers of Detroit history, as well as architecture historians.

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