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Albert Kahn

American architect, 1869 to 1942, born in Rhaunen, Kingdom of Prussia

General Motors Building, Detroit's New Center, 1922 Photo: Historic American Buildings Survey, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The General Motors Building leads Kahn's work on record here, the 220-foot tower that rose in Detroit's New Center in 1922, a National Historic Landmark since 1978. Another 114 of Kahn's works are on record across 3 counties, built from 1891 to 1936, each on the map below.

works on record in Metro Detroit
115
the First National Building, the tallest here
341 feet
of work here, 1891 to 1936
45 years
towns and cities, Detroit most of all
10

Albert Kahn in silhouette

The 28 best documented of Kahn's 115 works on record, oldest at left. Heights are to scale where one is on record (2 of 28, tallest the First National Building at 341 feet); the rest are drawn at one standard size.

The 7 best documented of Kahn's 115 works on record, oldest at left. Heights are to scale where one is on record (2 of 7, tallest the First National Building at 341 feet); the rest are drawn at one standard size.

General Motors Building

1922, Detroit, 220 feet

Still standing, photographed 2020

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The story

By Victoria Jackson, Editor in Chief Updated

Albert Kahn, an American architect, was born in 1869 in Rhaunen, Kingdom of Prussia and lived until 1942. The General Motors Building heads Kahn's work in Metro Detroit, 15 floors in Detroit's New Center, finished in 1922 and named a National Historic Landmark in 1978.

The record opens in 1891 with the Parke-Davis and Company Pharmaceutical Company Plant, as Detroit's lumber, stove and shipbuilding money went into brick and stone, and closes in 1936 with the Newlab at Michigan Central Building. The 1920s were Kahn's busiest decade here, with 38 works on record. Far from Woodward Avenue, Kahn designed The Times Square Building in Manhattan, New York (1913).

Kahn's honors include the Frank P. Brown Medal in 1943 and the Architecture Firm Award. Of Kahn's 115 works here, 16 are gone, the Lincoln Hotel in 1949 and Arena Gardens in 1953 among them.

Today, 99 of Kahn's works still stand. On the Palms Apartment House and The Palms and 5 more, Kahn shares credit with George D. Mason.

On the Owen Building and the National Theatre and 2 more, Kahn shares credit with Ernest Wilby. Homes were a calling card for Kahn, 21 of them on record, the Bernard Ginsburg House and the Palms Apartment House among them. Of the works on record, 13 are Art Deco, the style that runs through Kahn's work.

The map below reaches Wayne County, Oakland County, and Macomb County, 10 towns in all, wherever Kahn built. In Detroit it reaches 30 neighborhoods, among them Indian Village, Midtown, and New Center. Anyone tracing Kahn's work can begin at the Parke-Davis and Company Pharmaceutical Company Plant at Bounded by Joseph Campau Ave., Wight St., and McDougal Ave and follow the map from there.

Albert Kahn (March 21, 1869, December 8, 1942) was an American architect who collaborated with his brother Julius Kahn in designing industrial plant complexes such as the Ford River Rouge automobile complex.

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Albert Kahn in Metro Detroit, oldest first

Built in
County
Today

115 works

Where their buildings stand

County

115 works on the map

Loading the map

  • Standing
  • Demolished
  • Altered
  • Works close together

115 works on the map

Beyond Metro Detroit

One notable work by Albert Kahn in Manhattan, New York, as Wikidata lists them.

Who Kahn worked with

Where the work stands

In the Detroit Ledger

313 Legends: Albert Kahn

Photo credits

All 55 photos on Albert Kahn's page, each with its author, license and the original.

  1. General Motors Building (Cadillac Place), View southeast showing north (front) and west elevations, 1981 Photo: Historic American Buildings Survey, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
  2. Excerpt from a photo with Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, 1932 Photo: public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
  3. Parke-Davis Plant in Detroit MI--building on the Detroit River Photo: Andrew Jameson, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  4. Bernard Ginsburg House, 2016 Photo: Elisa.rolle, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  5. Frederick Stearns and Co. laboratory from southeast, Detroit, Mich, 1910 Photo: Detroit Publishing Company Collection, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
  6. Parke-Davis Research Laboratory Detroit MI (formerly the Omni Hotel) Photo: Andrew Jameson, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  7. Boulevard view, Packard auto plant, Detroit, Mich. Photo: Detroit Publishing Company, no known restrictions, via Library of Congress
  8. Temple Beth-El (1902), Beth-El's first temple, in central Detroit, southeastern Michigan, 1900 Photo: Detroit Publishing Company, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
  9. The Palms Apartments in Detroit, Michigan, as seen from across Jefferson Avenue in December 2020 Photo: Andre Carrotflower, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  10. The Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory (1904) is a greenhouse and botanical garden in Detroit, Michigan, United States, 2009 Photo: PDru2014 from Detroit, United States, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  11. [The Aquarium and conservatory, Belle Isle Park, Detroit, Mich.] Photo: Detroit Publishing Company, no known restrictions, via Library of Congress
  12. The Albert Kahn House, in the Brush Park district of Detroit, southeastern Michigan, 2008 Photo: Andrew Jameson at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  13. Edwin S. George Building, 4612 Woodward Ave., Detroit, MI, seen from across Woodward, 2008 Photo: Andrew Jameson at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  14. Grinnell Brothers Music House Pontiac MI, 2010 Photo: Andrew Jameson, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  15. Ford Service Building, 7310 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, Wayne County, MI Photo: Jet Lowe, Historic American Buildings Survey, no known restrictions, via Library of Congress
  16. A view of the Highland Park plant of the Ford Motor Company in 1922 Photo: Bernard L. Johnson, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
  17. Hudson Motor Car Co., Detroit, Mich. Photo: Detroit Publishing Company, no known restrictions, via Library of Congress
  18. House in the Beverly Road Historic District, Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan Photo: Appraiser, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  19. Herman Kiefer Hospital, Detroit on 4/17/2022 Photo: Ab5602, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  20. This massive structure, then the largest department store building in the world, was still there when I visited in..., 1988 Photo: artistmac, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  21. The National Theatre at 118 Monroe, Detroit, Michigan. Historic district contributing property Photo: Andrew Jameson, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  22. Detroit Waldorf School North side NRHP CP 72000667, 2015 Photo: Andrew Jameson, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  23. Detroit Athletic Club, Detroit, Mich. Photo: Detroit Publishing Company, no known restrictions, via Library of Congress
  24. Garden Court Apartments on Jefferson in Detroit MI, 2008 Photo: Andrew Jameson, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  25. Woodward Ave, Detroit, Mich., 1906 Photo: Detroit Publishing Company, no known restrictions, via Library of Congress
  26. Streetscape on Artesian St. in Rosedale Park Historic District Photo: Andrew Jameson, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  27. DEARBORN SKYLINE. FORD RIVER ROUGE PLANT IN BACKGROUND, NARA - 549710, 1973 Photo: Joe Clark, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
  28. Lincoln Motor Company Plant in 1923, Detroit, Michigan Photo: Ford Motor Company, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
  29. Vinton Building Detroit MI Photo: Andrew Jameson, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  30. Fort Shelby Hotel in Detroit, 2009 Photo: Mikerussell at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  31. As seen in December 2020: the majestic triple-arched main entrance to Detroit's Cadillac Place is found on the south... Photo: Andre Carrotflower, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  32. Detroit Savings Bank Southwest Branch, 2012 Photo: Msmith487, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  33. Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company Detroit Warehouse This is an image of a place or building that is listed on the National..., 2023 Photo: Andrew Jameson, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  34. Temple Beth-El (1921), Beth-El's second temple, in central Detroit, southeastern Michigan, 2008 Photo: Andrew Jameson at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  35. Painting by Myron G. Barlow in the Bethel Community Transformation Center, formerly the Temple Beth El, 2022 Photo: paintings by Myron G. Barlow photography by Helmut Ziewers,, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  36. 1st National Building, Detroit Financial District. self made, 2007 Photo: Mikerussell at the English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  37. Dearborn Country Club from postcard, 1930 Photo: F. H Mill, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
  38. Ford Motor Company Lamp Factory, 2021 Photo: Notorious4life (Uploads), CC0 1.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  39. Detroit Financial District, 2012 Photo: Dacoslett, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  40. Built in 1924-1925, this Art Deco-style building was designed by Albert Kahn and Associates to house the Detroit Free..., 2022 Photo: w_lemay, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  41. Depicted place: Detroit Harbor Terminals / Boblo Island Detroit Dock Building, 2018 Photo: Notorious4life (Uploads), CC0 1.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  42. Packard Proving Grounds Gateway Complex in Macomb County MI, 2011 Photo: Andrew Jameson, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  43. Albert Kahn Building (left) and Fisher Building (right) in Detroit MI. Cadillac PLace is in the background Photo: Andrew Jameson, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  44. Macabees Building Detroit, former headquarters of Detroit Public Schools, 2010 Photo: Andrew Jameson, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  45. Edsel and Eleanor Ford House, 2011 Photo: Andrew Jameson, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  46. Fisher Building (Detroit), 2016 Photo: KovacsDaniel, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  47. The Argonaut Building, former General Motors Research Laboratory, seen from the west, in the New Center area of... Photo: Andrew Jameson, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  48. Dearborn Inn, 2010 Photo: Andrew Jameson, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  49. The front façade of the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant at 461 Piquette Street, Detroit, Michigan, 2017 Photo: Jackdude101, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  50. Detroit News and Free Press Building, 2011 Photo: Goldnpuppy, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  51. Kresge World Headquarters, Detroit, Michigan Photo: Andrew Jameson, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  52. Cass Avenue in the New Amsterdam Historic District, Detroit, Michigan, United States, 2008 Photo: Andrew Jameson at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  53. New Center Commercial Historic District, Detroit MI. At Milwaukee and Woodward, looking northeast, 2016 Photo: Andrew Jameson, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  54. Pleasant Ridge Historic District, Pleasant Ridge MI, 2010 Photo: Andrew Jameson, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  55. The Times Square Building Photo: Trxr4kds, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Sources

The facts on Albert Kahn come from Historic Detroit, Wikidata, Wikipedia, and Photos; Rebuild Detroit wrote the story above from them, and each photo names its license.