Posted February 17, 200916 yr I took some pictures today in the heart of New Center. Argonaut Building- built 1928, formerly the General Motors Research Laboratory St. Regis Hotel Fisher Building- built 1928 Cadillac Place- formerly the General Motors Building, GM was headquartered here from 1923-1996 Albert Kahn building- built 1931 NBC Building- built 1920
February 17, 200916 yr This is one massive building... I remember reading something about it being the largest (or second largest?) office building in the world when it was completed.
February 17, 200916 yr Well done. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
February 17, 200916 yr Yikes, National Biscuit Building is owned by Farbman now? Nothing will get done lol. Last time I saw this building up close was the Lupe Fiasco concert in front of the Fisher Building. Randy, the building is massive. I remember hearing the renovations were ridiculously expensive. The state of Michigan has offices in there now. What a perfect bureaucratic building. I was really sad when they took the General Motors neon sign off the top. It was up there (and lit) for quite some time I believe even after GM moved downtown. The red building behind it with all that construction is the new School of Creative Studies. It will have housing, retail, the school, and I believe some leaseable office space.
February 17, 200916 yr Excellent photos, and fortunate weather conditions. They're beautiful shots. This set sure highlights the difference between the buildings of an earlier era that had substance and symbolism and were built to last, and much of the contemporary stuff that is completely unremarkable and undistinguished in design, built to be ripped down in twenty or thirty years and replaced with something even less distinctive.
February 17, 200916 yr The thing I found disappointing about New Center was the lack of retail and street activity. It's almost as if it was never designed to have any in the first place. Nearby housing is of a lower density than one would imagine, given the Manhattan-like scale of New Center's downtown. The view of the Fisher Building from any point along 2nd St, which dead-ends into it, is my favorite image in all of Detroit.
February 17, 200916 yr I'm always mixed on this era of architecture and city building. Those buildings are handsome and have a powerful presence, but the overall effect is one of gigantic ism, not human scale friendliness. Alot look like they aren't built for any ground level interaction- i.e. they have no retail, or even windows at ground level.
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