Fisher Building: Difference between revisions
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Initially, Kahn planned for a complex of three buildings, with two 28-story structures flanking a third tower twice that height. However, the [[Great Depression]] caused his funding to dry up following the construction of the first phase. Nevertheless, most architectural critics feel that the single Fisher Building functions sufficiently well on its own. |
Initially, Kahn planned for a complex of three buildings, with two 28-story structures flanking a third tower twice that height. However, the [[Great Depression]] caused his funding to dry up following the construction of the first phase. Nevertheless, most architectural critics feel that the single Fisher Building functions sufficiently well on its own. |
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Unable to find a large plot downtown, the Fisher brothers built their building across from the General Motors Building (Now [[ |
Unable to find a large plot downtown, the Fisher brothers built their building across from the General Motors Building (Now [[Cadillac Place]]; General Motors had recently purchased their [[Fisher Body]] Company. The two massive buildings spurred the development of a [[New Center]]" for the city north of its downtown area. |
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The top of the building was [[gold|gilt]] and topped with a radio antenna; [[WJR]] radio broadcasters often mentioned that their signals were broadcast "from the golden tower of the Fisher Building." |
The top of the building was [[gold|gilt]] and topped with a radio antenna; [[WJR]] radio broadcasters often mentioned that their signals were broadcast "from the golden tower of the Fisher Building." |
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Revision as of 19:52, 20 July 2006
Built in 1928, the Fisher Building has been nicknamed "Detroit's largest art object". Sitting on the corner of West Grand Boulevard and Second Street in Detroit, Michigan, the Art Deco skyscraper lies in the heart of the New Center area of Detroit. The 28-story office building was designed by Albert Kahn to house the automotive business of the Fisher brothers (Frederick, Charles, William, Lawrence, Edward, Alfred, Howard, and it is widely considered his greatest achievement. The year of its construction, the Fisher building was honored by the Architecture League of New York as the year's most beautiful commercial structure.
Initially, Kahn planned for a complex of three buildings, with two 28-story structures flanking a third tower twice that height. However, the Great Depression caused his funding to dry up following the construction of the first phase. Nevertheless, most architectural critics feel that the single Fisher Building functions sufficiently well on its own.
Unable to find a large plot downtown, the Fisher brothers built their building across from the General Motors Building (Now Cadillac Place; General Motors had recently purchased their Fisher Body Company. The two massive buildings spurred the development of a New Center" for the city north of its downtown area.
The top of the building was gilt and topped with a radio antenna; WJR radio broadcasters often mentioned that their signals were broadcast "from the golden tower of the Fisher Building."
The building is also home to the Fisher Theater, one of Detroit's oldest live theater venues. The theatre originally featured a lavish Mayan-themed interior, with banana trees and live macaws that its 3,500 patrons could feed. After the Depression, the theatre operated primarily as a movie house until 1961. The interior was replaced by a 2,089-seat theatre that allowed more for spacious seating for patrons. The decor was changed to a more simple mid-century design (which some feel is now far more "dated" in appearance than the grandiose art deco foyer). The Fisher Theater now primarily features traveling productions of Broadway shows.