Architecture

Discover the Modern Architecture of Michigan by Frank Lloyd Wright, Zaha Hadid, Eero Saarinen, and Others

A new book covers the state’s most stunning buildings from the mid-20th century to modern day
a fountain with bronze statues in the middle with a low brownbrick building in the background
The Cranbrook Educational Community in Michigan.

When you think of architecturally forward destinations, Michigan probably isn’t the first place that comes to mind. But the northern state has buildings by some of the world’s best architects, ranging from private homes to entire business campuses. In fact, it even hosts one of the foremost design schools of the mid-20th century, the Cranbrook Educational Community, home to the Cranbrook Academy of Art and Art Museum, whose alumni includes Charles and Ray Eames, Eero Saarinen, and Florence Knoll. The new book Michigan Modern: An Architectural Legacy ($60, Visual Profile Books) details 34 of the state’s most significant works of architecture. “This book continues the work of the State Historic Preservation Office in documenting Modernism in Michigan,” writes author Brian D. Conway in the introduction. “Known as the Michigan Modern Project, the study started in 2008 with a grant from the Preserve America program of the National Park Service.” Here, we share 12 buildings by such luminaries as Frank Lloyd Wright, Richard Meier, and Zaha Hadid, gorgeously captured by photographer James Haefner for the book.

Gregor and Elizabeth Affleck House

Jim Haefner

American icon Frank Lloyd Wright designed this raised Usonian home for Gregor and Elizabeth Affleck, the former of whom grew up near the architect’s hometown of Spring Green, Wisconsin.

Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum

The late Zaha Hadid was tapped to design Michigan State University’s art museum, which opened in 2012.

James and Jean Douglas House

Inspired by Richard Meier’s Smith House in Connecticut, the Douglas family commissioned the architect to design this private retreat on a hillside in the Michigan woods.

Linda Dresner House

Steven Sivak designed this Brutalist landmark, his firm’s first project working with poured concrete, in a neighborhood filled with Tudor-style homes.

Melvyn Maxwell and Sara Smith House

Another Wright project (he drafted more than 70 homes in the state, with less than half being built), this house has grounds designed by landscape architect Thomas Church.

W. Hawkins Ferry House

W. Hawkins Ferry was a prominent modern and contemporary art collector and an architecture buff who wrote several books on the topic. He had William Kessler design this house for him in 1964.

General Motors Technical Center

This one-square-mile campus outside Detroit was Eero Saarinen’s first claim to fame. His father, Eliel, began the project but passed away before it was completed.

Cranbrook Educational Community

Jim Haefner

The Cranbrook Educational Community didn’t just produce impressive artists and designers; it is itself a work of art. Eliel Saarinen designed the campus.

McGregor Memorial Conference Center

Jim Haefner,Jim Haefner

With this structure, Minoru Yamasaki developed the New Formalism style of architecture, which blends luxurious modernism with classical elements.

Michigan Consolidated Gas Company Building

This Detroit office building, Yamasaki’s first skyscraper, was designed as part of Eero Saarinen’s master plan for the city.

Robert and Barbara Schwartz House

Marion Laney

Robert E. Schwartz built his domed, open-plan house out of Styrofoam.

Dorothy Turkel House

Jim Haefner

After reading Wright’s book The Natural House, Dorothy Turkel commissioned him to design her Usonian home, Detroit’s only house by the architect.

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