Rackham Building - Detroit, Michigan
N 42° 21.477 W 083° 03.818
17T E 330052 N 4691582
The Rackham Building is designed in the "Stripped Classic" style of Art Deco, meaning it still retains the classical elements of a temple with columns but everything has been reinterpreted into modern geometric forms.
Waymark Code: WMNYG0
Location: Michigan, United States
Date Posted: 05/24/2015
Views: 2
The Horace H. Rackham Educational Memorial Building was completed in 1941 for the Engineering Society of Detroit. It was designed by the firm of Harley, Ellington & Day. Ideally situated just south of the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Rackham building is an important part of Midtown. The building is still in great shape and is currently owned and operated by nearby Wayne State University.
The reliefs along the building's top are designed by renowned Detroit sculptor Corrado Parducci. They are idealized human and animal forms presented in the stripped down geometric style of Art Deco figures.
Horace Rackham was among the original dozen stockholders of the Ford Motor Company. After he became wealthy, he generously supported the University of Michigan. Their graduate school carries his name. Horace Rackham died in 1933, but his widow—in the midst of the devastating Depression—provided funds for the third magnificent building in Detroit's Cultural Center—a building designed for the Extension Service of the University of Michigan and for the Engineering Society of Detroit.
The Harley, Ellington and Day firm of Detroit designed a classical building with an emphasis simultaneously upon simplicity and beauty. The façade is Georgia marble. Contrasting dark granite was used to stress the windows that are done in bronze with cast bronze ornamentation. The center section of the Rackham Building with the five bronze doors is among the most attractive features. Michigan's most famous sculptor, Marshall Fredericks, sculpted groups of figures representing educators, engineers, scientists, and structural steel workers.
Style: Art Deco
Structure Type: Other
Architect: Harley, Ellington and Day
Date Built: 1941
Supporting references: Not listed
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