Michigan Modern is a collaborative effort to share the state’s unique role in the Modernism movement.
“Our architecture is too humble. It should be prouder, more aggressive, much richer and larger than we see today.”
– Eero Saarinen
Modernism: Roots in Michigan
Michigan architects Eero Saarinen and Minoru Yamasaki designed buildings that defined the mid-century era. But Michigan architect Albert Kahn actually pioneered one of Modernism’s primary building systems half a century earlier – reinforced concrete. Michigan’s industry, prosperity, and educational institutions combined to create a synergy that produced some of the world’s best design talent.
This is the story of Michigan’s outstanding contributions to Modern design.
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Featured Building
Church of Saint Mary
The curved walls and sweeping cone-shaped roofs of the Church of Saint Mary appear almost foreign in the mixed residential and commercial neighborhood just north of Alma’s main commercial corridor. The sanctuary, under the central spire, seats approximately seven hundred worshippers. The architect selected to design this new place of worship was William Wesley Peters of Taliesin Associated Architects of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. The first mass was celebrated in the new church in August 1969.
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Michigan Modern in Print
“The book demonstrates how Michigan’s industries, educational institutions, and businesses employed the most innovative architects and designers of the day, who in turn lured the best and brightest to come and work with them. In this way, Modernism and Michigan were inextricably tied.” — Architectural Record
The Great Lakes State has always been known for its contributions to twentieth-century manufacturing, but it’s only beginning to receive wide attention for its contributions to Modern design and architecture.