105th ACSA Annual Meeting

10:00am – 2:00pm: Cranbrook Academy of Art Tour                                                                $50

Tour led by: Gregory Wittkopp, Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research & Kevin Adkisson, Cranbrook Collections Fellow

In keeping with Cranbrook’s Arts & Crafts origins, the campus tour touches on artistic elements including historical plantings, stunning vistas, and intricate brickwork on building elevations. Select interiors will be explored, including the original Cranbrook School for Boys Dining Hall and the Williams Natatorium, design by Todd Williams and Billie Tsien. Saarinen House is the jewel of Cranbrook’s architectural treasures. Designed in the late 1920s, Saarinen House served as the home and studio of Eliel Saarinen (Cranbrook’s first resident architect and the Academy’s first president and head of the Architecture Department) and Loja Saarinen (the Academy’s first head of the Weaving Department). The extraordinary interior, now impeccably restored, features the Saarinens’ original furnishings, including Eliel’s delicately-veneered furniture and Loja’s sumptuous textiles, as well as early furniture designs by their son Eero Saarinen. Come see the 6,500+ items in Cranbrook’s extensive collection during our Collections Wing tour. See work by Eames, Knoll, Saarinen, and many others in our state-of-the-art storage facility. Lunch and transportation are provided.

12:00pm – 2:00pm: Detroit Lafayette Park Tour                                                                       $50

Tour Led by: Assoc. Prof. Noah Resnick, University of Detroit Mercy

Lafayette Park is a historic urban renewal district east of Downtown Detroit and contains the largest collection of residential buildings designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.  The Lafayette park neighborhood will be featured in a walking tour followed by a drive-by cross-section of the East Side including Eastern Market, the Dequindre Cut, riverfront development, and residential neighborhood conditions.  Boxed lunch and transportation are provided. 

12:30pm – 2:30pm: Minoru Yamasaki at Wayne State University Tour                                  $50

Tour Led by: Prof. Dale Allen Gyure, Lawrence Tech University

Minoru Yamasaki was one of America’s premier midcentury modernist architects. Long before the World Trade Center he created a “humanistic modernism” that melded traditional architectural features like columns and arches, a modernist expression of structure, and an interest in “serenity, surprise, and delight” acquired from a deep engagement with world architecture. Yamasaki was based in the Detroit area, and some of his finest works are here. This walking tour will visit four buildings on the Wayne State University campus, including his masterpiece, the McGregor Memorial Conference Center (recently named a National Historic Landmark), as well as the former Detroit Arts & Crafts Society building at the College for Creative Studies. Boxed lunch and transportation are provided.

12:00pm – 2:00pm: Detroit Lafayette Park Tour                                                                       $50

Tour Led by: Assoc. Prof. Noah Resnick, University of Detroit Mercy

Lafayette Park is a historic urban renewal district east of Downtown Detroit and contains the largest collection of residential buildings designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.  The Lafayette park neighborhood will be featured in a walking tour followed by a drive-by cross-section of the East Side including Eastern Market, the Dequindre Cut, riverfront development, and residential neighborhood conditions.  Boxed lunch and transportation are provided. 

12:30pm – 2:30pm: Detroit Hamtramck & Power House Productions Tour                         $50

Tour Led by: Asst. Prof. Tadd Heidgerken, University of Detroit Mercy

A walking and driving tour of Hamtramck, the Powerhouse Productions community of projects, and the Bangladeshi community. There will be stops at the Squash House, Play House, Popps Packing, Hamtramck Disneyland, and Bhandu Gardens. We will see how disparate Polish, Bangladeshi, artist, urban farming, and maker communities co-exist and work together. Boxed lunch and transportation are provided.