 |
Albert Kahn (architect)
Totally Explained
|
|  |
|
NEW! |
All the latest news in the worlds of
computer gaming,
entertainment,
the environment,
finance,
health,
politics,
science,
stocks & shares,
technology
and much,
much,
more.
|
Everything about Albert Kahn Architect totally explained
Albert Kahn (born March 21, 1869 in Rhaunen, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, died December 8, 1942 in Detroit, Michigan, USA) was the foremost American industrial architect of his day. He is sometimes called, the architect of Detroit.
Kahn came to Detroit in 1880 at the age of 11. His father Joseph was trained as a rabbi. His mother Rosalie had a talent for the visual arts and music. As a teenager he got a job at the architectural firm of Mason and Rice. Kahn won a year's scholarship to study abroad in Europe, where he toured with another young architecture student, Henry Bacon, who would later design the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Biography
The architectural firm Albert Kahn Associates was founded in 1895. He developed a new style of construction where reinforced concrete replaced wood in factory walls, roofs, and supports. This gave better fire protection and allowed large volumes of unobstructed interior. Packard Motor Car Company's factory built in 1907 was the first development of this principle.
The success of the Packard plant interested Henry Ford in Kahn's designs. Kahn designed Ford Motor Company's Highland Park plant, begun in 1909 where Ford consolidated production of the Ford Model T and perfected the assembly line. On Bob-Lo Island, Henry Ford had a dance hall designed and built by Albert Kahn, which in 1903 was billed as the world's second largest.
Kahn later designed, in 1917, the massive half-mile-long Ford River Rouge Plant. The Rouge grew into the largest manufacturing complex in the U.S., with a force that peaked at 120,000 workers. According to the company website, "By 1938, Kahn's firm was responsible for 20 percent of all architect-designed factories in the U.S."
Kahn was responsible for many of the buildings and houses in Walkerville, Ontario built under direction of Walker family including Willistead Manor. Kahn's interest in historically styled buildings is also seen in his houses in Indian Village, Detroit, Cranbrook House, the Edsel Ford House and the Dearborn Inn, the world's first airport hotel.
Kahn also designed the landmark 28-story Art Deco Fisher Building in Detroit, considered one of the most beautiful elements of the Detroit skyline. In 1928, the Fisher building was honored by the Architectural League of New York as the year's most beautiful commercial structure.
Kahn's firm's Moscow office built 521 factories between 1930 and 1932.
Kahn also designed many of the classic buildings at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. These include the Burton Tower, Hill Auditorium, the Hatcher Graduate Library, and Clements Library.
A frequent collaborator with Kahn was architectural sculptor Corrado Parducci. In all Parducci worked on about 50 Kahn commissions including banks, office buildings, newspaper buildings, mausoleums, hospitals and private residences.
Kahn's firm designed a large number of the army airfield and naval bases for the United States government during World War I. By World War II, Kahn's 600-person office was involved in making Detroit the Arsenal of Democracy including designing the Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant, and the Willow Run Bomber Plant in Ypsilanti, Michigan where Ford Motor Company mass produced B-24 Liberator bombers, Kahn's last building. Albert Kahn worked on more than 1,000 commissions from Henry Ford and hundreds for other automakers.
As of 2006, Kahn had around 60 buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Not all of Kahn's works have been preserved. The Donovan Building, later occupied by Motown Records, abandoned for decades, was demolished as part of Detroit's beautification plan before the Super Bowl in 2006.
Ten Albert Kahn buildings are recognized by official Michigan historical markers.
He isn't related to American architect Louis Kahn.
Kahn-designed buildings
Brandeis-Millard House, 1904, located in the Country Club Historic District of Midtown Omaha, Nebraska is the only known work by Kahn in the state.
Dexter M. Ferry summer residence in Unadilla Center, New York; early 19th century stone farmhouse remodeled in 1890. Extant today. Known as Milfer Farm, held by Ferry heirs today. Kahn also designed the "Honeymoon Cottage" on the estate, one of the earliest prefabricated houses built.
Hiram Walker offices, 1892, in Windsor, Ontario
Detroit Racquet Club, 1902 (Kahn designed but wasn't allowed membership at the time, being Jewish)
Temple Beth El, 1903, Kahn's home synagogue, now the Bonstelle Theatre of Wayne State University
The Palms Apartments , 1901-3, on Jefferson Avenue, Detroit
Belle Isle Aquarium and Conservatory, 1904, and Casino, 1907 on Belle Isle, Detroit
Albert Kahn House, 1906, Detroit, Michigan (his personal residence)
George N. Pierce Plant, 1906, in Buffalo, New York
Willistead Manor, 1906, home of the son of Hiram Walker
Battle Creek Post Office, 1907, concrete construction method used again later that year in Kahn's Packard plant
Packard Plant, 1907, Kahn's tenth factory for Packard but first concrete one
Cranbrook House, 1907, at Cranbrook Educational Community
Highland Park Ford Plant, 1908, Highland Park, Michigan
Mahoning National Bank, 1909, Youngstown, Ohio
Detroit News building, 1917
Motor Wheel Factory, Lansing, Michigan, 1918. Currently being renovated into residential lofts.
General Motors Building, 1919, largest office building in the world at that time, GM world headquarters, now State of Michigan offices
First National Building, Detroit, 1922
Detroit Police Headquarters, 1923
Temple Beth El, 1923 (a different building than the 1903 version), now the Lighthouse Cathedral.
Walker Power Plant, 1923, in Windsor
Ford Motor Company Lamp Factory, 1921-1925, in Flat Rock, Michigan
Detroit Free Press Building, 1925
S.S. Kresge Headquarters, 1927, 18-story white building at Adams and Park on Grand Circus Park in Detroit
Edsel and Eleanor Ford House, 1927, Henry Ford's son's home, built as an English manor house in Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan.
Fisher Building, major skyscraper of Detroit for decades
River Rouge Glass Plant, 1930
Dearborn Inn, 1931, world's first airport hotel, built and decorated in the Georgian style
Ford Rotunda, designed for Chicago World's Fair, 1934 (burned, 1963)
Dodge Truck Plant, 1938, Warren, Michigan
Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant, 1941, produced 1/4 of American WWII tanks, continued tank production until 1997
Willow Run Bomber Plant, 1941, used by Ford for bombers during the war, then by Kaiser for cars, then by GM for transmissions
Ford Assembly Building, California
Buildings at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor:
Further Information
Get more info on 'Albert Kahn Architect'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://albert_kahn__architect.totallyexplained.com">Albert Kahn (architect) Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
|
|
