i am more thrilled about today’s new city guide than i can possibly express. one of my all-time favorite blogs, sweet juniper, was kind enough to create a guide to their newly adopted hometown, detroit. i’ve been reading sweet juniper for over a year now and am constantly blown away by the beautiful photos and well-written posts. if you haven’t checked them out before, i highly suggest it (you can also check out their beautiful mies van der rohe home sneak peek right here). jim griffioen, better known as “dutch” to sweet juniper fans, was kind enough to sit down and write what is easily one of the most detailed and interesting city guides we’ve ever published on the site. a writer, amateur photographer and former lawyer, jim moved with his family from san francisco to downtown detroit in 2006 and “hasn’t regretted it for a second”. while detroit may not be a mecca for the type of design seen in magazines and blogs like this, it is home to incredible architectural and design history- as well as some wonderful local artisans. jim’s guide is a must, must read and is full of humor, history and great finds. i hope you’ll enjoy the guide as much as i did. click here to view the full guide, or click “read more” below for the full post. jim also went to the trouble of creating a fantastic google map for the guide, which you can access right here (or below the fold). [thank you to jim for all of his incredible work!]
Let’s face it: no one’s coming to Detroit for a bounty of fauna-decorated greeting cards or hand-screened wallpaper. As the author of the Design*Sponge guide to the Motor City, I must first dispel you of any notion that Detroit is the kind of place where you can shop in trendy, walkable neighborhoods for the kinds of beautiful things you ordinarily see on this website. As far as I know, we have no ceramic antler peddlers or artists working around the clock to draw owls in every conceivable fashion. We do, however, have a sizable population of ring-necked pheasants. And packs of wild dogs. I once had to fight off a pack of hungry feral dogs who wanted to eat my toddler. Try doing that in Park Slope!
Detroit was like the silicon valley of the 1920s. A new industry emerged here to transform the entire world. There were jobs for everyone. There was money to throw away on art deco skyscrapers with gilded roofs. As Detroit’s auto barons poured their wealth into the city’s buildings, they created one of the greatest collections of 1920s architecture in North America. Eventually, half the population left for the suburbs. That means the city is very empty. There are a lot of vacant lots, empty houses, and even empty art deco and beaux-arts skyscrapers. At night, a great swath of our lovely skyline is dark.
The importance of the automobile in Detroit’s history and decline cannot be understated, and it plays an equally important role in the area’s tradition of design. Automobile design is often ignored by mid-century enthusiasts who might prefer a Saarinen womb chair to a sweet 1957 Lincoln Premiere Two-Door Hardtop, though the origins of both can be traced here to the Detroit area. Not only is Detroit home to a large population of artists attracted to the affordable standard of living, available space, and inspirational post-industrial cityscape, but also many professional designers who work primarily in the automotive field.
This guide is organized by neighborhood, and by “neighborhood” I mean the islands of residential and retail activity surrounded by abandonment, urban prairie, and the massive highways leading to the suburbs. If you’re short on time, the three most design*spongeworthy shops are Mezzanine downtown, Bureau of Urban Living in Midtown, and Design 99 in Hamtramck. Also be sure to check out Handmade Detroit for any indie craft/art fairs on the horizon.
Midtown/Cultural Center
Things to See:
Detroit Institute of the Arts 5200 Woodward Avenue [map]- The DIA recently completed a major renovation with a Michael Graves addition that added 77,000 sq. ft. The Diego Rivera court at the center of the museum should not be missed: Rivera considered it his finest work.
Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit [MOCAD] 4454 Woodward Ave. [map] A most welcome addition to the contemporary art scene in Detroit, for over a year now MOCAD has been more than just a museum; it has been a true gathering space for people interested in all kinds of new art. With free admission, and a busy schedule of public programs that include lectures, concerts, parties, films, poetry and literary readings, still one of the greatest aspects of MOCAD is its space: a 22,000 sq. ft. former auto dealership stripped to its raw elements that makes it perfect for the conceptual pieces in the exhibitions. Plus, they let my kid make chalk drawings on the floors.
Wayne State University Campus [map] The campus has a cluster of excellent mid-century buildings, the most significant of which were designed by Minoru Yamasaki (the Education Building, Helen L. DeRoy Auditorium, and the sublime McGregor Memorial Conference Center).
Detroit Historical Museum 5401 Woodward Avenue [map]
Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History 315 East Warren Ave. [map]
Detroit Public Library 5201 Woodward Ave. [map]
College for Creative Studies Gallery 201 East Kirby [map]
Brush Park [map] Just south of the cultural center is the area known as Brush Park, once a prestigious neighborhood of Victorian mansions built in the 1870s for Detroit’s lumber barons, reduced to flophouses and ultimately ruin as the wealthy fled further and further from downtown. Several of the remaining homes have been restored, while others still sit abandoned amid the urban prairie awaiting renovation or demolition. The infamous David Livingston house was fully demolished not long after this breathtaking footage was taken.
Cass Corridor [map] South of Wayne State University, this stretch of Cass Ave and its environs was a cultural hotspot during Detroit’s turbulent 60s and 70s. Swoon recently pasted up quite a few gorgeous pieces on abandoned buildings in the Cass Corridor, and only a few have been removed.
Places to Shop:
Bureau of Urban Living 460 West Canfield Street [map] This small shop carries unique modern housewares, accents, art prints, stationary, books and more. The premise is a “general store” for design-minded individuals who have laid down roots in Detroit and don’t want to shop in the suburbs. The store carries products by Blomus, Richard+Hazel, Umbra, and Plush Living. I like the letterpress cards produced by midtown neighbor lovio|george|inc featuring metro-Detroit artist Lori Maday’s typeface-based illustrations, and city bird’s soaps and journals featuring maps of Detroit and their mirror with the city’s skyline.
Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit [MOCAD] 4454 Woodward Ave. [map] In addition to a new coffee shop, MOCAD has a great little store with art magazines, books, toys, commissioned t-shirts, and other interesting items.
Detroit Artists Market 4719 Woodward Ave. [map] Established in 1932, this storefront gallery features paintings, sculpture, ceramics and jewelry by local artists.
Peoples Records 615 W Forest Ave [map] One of metro Detroit’s best record stores, with a great selection of Detroit-soul vinyl.
C-Pop Gallery 4160 Woodward Ave. [map] A successful and influential gallery known for showcasing pop-influenced works by new artists.
Dell Pryor Gallery 4201 Cass [map]
G. R. N’Namdi Gallery 66 E Forest Ave [map]
Back Alley Bikes 3535 Cass, NW corner of Cass and MLK intersection [map]
Mantra, 3401 Cass Ave. [map] A small vintage shop with tons of affordable (but kind of junky) mid-century furniture.
Sole Sisters 87 E Canfield St [map] Suburban shoe chain’s recently-opened midtown location, shoes, purses, and accessories.
Where to Eat:
Avalon International Breads 422 W. Willis St. [map] The new model for small-business entrepreneurship in Detroit, this organic bakery sells delicious artisanal breads, coffee and espresso drinks, and tasty sweets.
Cass Cafe 4620 Cass Ave. [map] Art Gallery, bar, and restaurant with good vegetarian options.
Corktown: Northwest of the central business district, Corktown claims to be Detroit’s oldest intact neighborhood, with well-kept residential streets of 19th century Irish worker cottages and larger Victorian houses.
Things to See:
Tiger Stadium Corner of Michigan and Trumbull [map] Abandoned and awaiting imminent demolition, this legendary baseball stadium is where the Detroit Tigers played from 1912 to 1999. It’s where Babe Ruth hit his longest home run and where Lou Gehrig played his last game.
Michigan Central Station Roosevelt and Michigan Ave. [map] This building may just be the most impressive modern ruin in the world. The MCS is a Beaux-Arts masterpiece designed by the same firm as New York’s Grand Central, but abandoned in 1987 to the mercy of the elements, architectural scavengers, vandals, and graffiti taggers. I would say no visit to Detroit is complete without standing outside to look up at it, and I would also highly recommend finding some way inside to get a look at the sublime interior.
Bohemian National Home 3009 Tillman [map] Lovely barebones gallery/venue for all types of non-mainstream music in a refurbished ethnic community hall.
Nancy Whiskey 2644 Harrison (Corner of Spruce) [map] Just north of I-75 and Tiger Stadium in what the realtors are calling “North Corktown” (Noco), Nancy Whiskey is an old dive that caters to a diverse crowd who find common ground in an appreciation of traditional blues. Jack White’s taste and style didn’t evolve in a vacuum.
Places to Shop:
John K. King Used and Rare Books 901 W. Lafayette Blvd. [map] Michigan’s largest used book store.
Xavier’s Twentieth Century Furniture 2546 Michigan Ave. [map] You need to figure in at least twenty minutes to wrench yourself away from any conversation with Xavier, the purveyor of vintage mid-century furniture, lighting, accents and accessories in this inconspicuous spot. Xavier knows what he’s selling (you won’t be able to get a beautiful Robsjohn-Gibbons slipper chair for a song, but he also has many affordable pieces).
Zeitgeist Gallery [limited weekend hours] 2661 Michigan Ave. [map]
Communique Studio [open by appointment only] 2015 Michigan Ave. [map] A new gallery and performance space operated by Quietdown Press.
Ladels Bookstore 1413 Brooklyn [map] A nice little independent children’s book store in Corktown not far from John K. King.
Where to Eat:
Slows 2138 Michigan Ave. [map] Bruce Springsteen and Will Farrell ate at Slows when visiting Detroit. Someone gave them good advice. You could come here just to appreciate the design: the stunning interior features slatted wood walls in a modern take on the traditional southern barbecue, with all wooden surfaces planed, sanded and refinished by the owners to their own design. The reasonably-priced menu, like the interior, is like a classed-up vision of southern barbecue without straying too far from its roots.
Mexicantown:
An area of Detroit that is clearly thriving, Mexicantown’s lively “real city” atmosphere keeps spreading outward in southwestern Detroit. It’s densely populated with people and eateries, so it’s a great place to eat and walk around enjoying the public art and shopping. While there aren’t any real design-oriented stores, here, there are plenty of interesting shops. La Gloria (3345 Bagley Ave) is a great place to stop for Mexican desserts. There’s an eclectic flea market just east of Livernois at 5700 Federal Street. Next door to the flea market is Kidz Playland (5620 Federal), and they hold Lucha Libre wrestling events there from time to time. Also check out the gallery at the Bagley Housing Association, for metalwork created by the artists at nearby Disenos Ornamental Iron. Don’t miss the Fuller-esque electric-blue geodesic dome on the corner of Vernor and St. Anne.
Downtown/Harmonie Park
Things to See:
People Mover [map] Detroit’s much-maligned, mostly-empty monorail gives a tour of the central business district and the skyscraper graveyard. Plus it’s only 50 cents.
Guardian Building 500 Griswold [map] An awe-inspiring art-deco masterpiece covered in American Indian motifs; the real treat is inside.
Penobscot Building 645 Griswold [map] Another classic 1920s skyscraper.
Riverwalk [map] The recently unveiled riverfront promenade is a great place to walk all year to catch glimpses of the skylines of both Detroit and neighboring Windsor, Ontario. Detroit is the only major American city that faces Canada to the south.
Hart Plaza [map] Designed by Isamu Noguchi in the 1960s and featuring his massive, unique fountain, this plaza is an open civic space right on the Detroit River at the foot of Woodward Avenue. Every year, it hosts the Detroit Electronic Music Festival, along with dozens of other ethnic and cultural festivals.
Downtown Ruins (David Broderick Tower, United Artists, David Whitney, etc.) Camilo Jose Vergara once proposed preserving Detroit’s abandoned skyscrapers as an “American Acropolis.” Many of the towering vacants have been demolished, some (like the Book-Cadillac Hotel) have been renovated, while the rest wait for condominium developers to live up to their promises. One of the most shocking ruins is the old Michigan Theater, the site of the workshop where Henry Ford built his first automobile, then a luxurious movie palace, now a parking garage.
Places to Shop:
Mezzanine 206 E. Grand River, 2nd Floor [map] Mezzanine may be Detroit’s only truly high-end, carefully-curated collection of mid-century and edgy contemporary furniture, lighting and accessories, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t stand on equal footing with almost anything similar in the suburbs: it’s far better. This huge minimalist loft-style space is filled with furniture by Artifort, Danskina, e15, and Moooi and accessories by Droog, Tonfisk Design, Mono and Jonathan Adler. Mezzanine also sells vintage Holmegaard and Kaj Franck glass vases, and Luceplan and Akari lighting.
Spectacles 230 E. Grand River [map] This Harmonie Park boutique carries men’s and women’s clothing and accessories from lines like Upper Playground and Schott NYC.
The Greatest of All Time 208 E. Grand River [map] Sleek little store selling high-end sneakers.
Pure Detroit Design Lab 156 West Congress [map] Studio and retail space showcasing the work of Detroit fashion designers.
Pangborn Design Collection (inside Renaissance Center Winter Garden) Boutique featuring pieces from established designers like Alessi.
Dumouchelle Art Galleries 409 E. Jefferson Ave. [map] Auction house that occasionally sells some wild (and modern) stuff from rich folks’ estates.
Where to Eat:
Lafayette Coney Island 118 W. Lafayette Blvd. [map] The Detroit Coney Island is a thick-casing pork hot dog covered in a meaty chili, diced onion, and yellow mustard applied with a wooden stick. I prefer the dogs at the Lafayette; the decor seems to have remained unchanged for decades. It’s also where Patti Smith and Fred “Sonic” Smith of the MC5 had their wedding reception.
Greenwich Time 130 Cadillac Sq. [map] Serving burgers for more than half a century in Detroit’s flatiron building, and not much has changed.
Saltwater 1777 Third St [map] Inside the Vegas-style MGM Grand Casino downtown, Saltwater is supposedly the better of two Michael Mina restaurants.
Small Plates 1521 Broadway [map] Upscale but not too expensive restaurant near Grand Circus.
Bucharest Grill 2040 Park. Ave. [map] Excellent, affordable shawarmas and other Romanian fare inside the Park Bar.
Eastern Market/Near-East Side
Things to See:
Eastern Market Russell and Winder [map] One of the best times to get a real sense of the Detroit area’s diversity is Saturday morning at the Eastern Market. 70,000 tons of fresh produce pass through here every year, in addition to vast quantities of meat, seafood, and dry goods. Even on the coldest days of the year there are buskers and street vendors. The shops and restaurants are open every day except Sunday. Head to Gabriel Imports for olives and Mediterranean specialties, R. Hirt Jr. for cheeses, breads, and dry goods, Cost Plus Wines, Gratiot Central Market for meat, Rocky Peanut Company for nuts and bulk candies, Germack for pistachios, and Rafal Spice for coffee and spices.
Lafayette Park Lafayette and Rivard [map] A shockingly-successful urban redevelopment project tucked away inside a terribly-unsuccessful urban environment, Lafayette Park may owe some of its success to the names on its blueprints: the buildings were designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and the park-like grounds by his colleague at IIT, master landscape architect Alfred Caldwell. The Mies buildings include three international style apartment towers and 186 one and two-story townhouses. The facades of all these buildings all have Mies’s famous walls of glass. Lafayette Park boasts the largest collection of Mies van der Rohe architecture in the world. The high rise at 1300 Lafayette designed by Gunnar Birketts fits in well with the modern character of the neighborhood, and was once home to Diana Ross. Anyone interested in mid-century architecture, urban planning, or a green escape from the city just a block from downtown should consider a visit to Detroit’s Lafayette Park.
Dequindre Cut [map] a two-mile, below-grade abandoned rail line, the cut existed for many years as a jungle-like canyon of non-native species, wildlife, and illegal dumping grounds, as well as the greatest stretch of graffiti canvas I’ve ever seen. Now the cut has been cleared of trash and vegetation—a rail-to-trail project will eventually connect Eastern Market to Detroit’s riverfront.
Heidelberg Project 3600 Heidelberg St. [map] Another must-visit. Tyree Guyton started his project in 1986 and hasn’t stopped since (despite having six of his houses demolished by city bureaucrats). A colorful array of painted car hoods, shoes, vacuum cleaners, stuffed animals, tires, and wildly-painted abandoned (and inhabited) homes, the world-famous Heidelberg project (if nothing else), shows the power of one man to transform the despair and ugliness suffocating his neighborhood into something truly beautiful. Bring a camera. Get out of your car. Walk around. Talk to Tyree. No one is going to bite you.
Urban Prairie/Poletown [map] If you want to see more of Tyree Guyton’s public art, head north from Heidelberg on Mt. Elliot and turn left on Canfield. This area was formerly known as “Poletown” and was a vibrant Polish community before much of it was torn down to build an automotive plant, and now it is mostly empty. Guyton’s “Rosa Parks” bus sits in a vacant lot at Canfield and Chene. There is some more art near that intersection. If you head north on Chene, you will proceed through a series of beautiful abandoned shops and storefronts. The surrounding neighborhood features some of the most striking urban prairie landscapes in the city.
Packard Plant Complex [map] Situated just south of I-94 on Detroit’s east side, the the Packard plant was designed in 1903 by Albert Kahn, and included the first use of reinforced concrete for industrial construction in Detroit, making it the most modern automobile manufacturing facility in the world. It once consisted of 3.5 million square feet throughout 35 acres of buildings. Today, a good portion of it remains, empty but still breathtaking.
Elmwood Cemetery [map] 86 acres of landscaped grounds, designed in 1890 by Frederick Law Olmsted.
Places to Shop:
Eastern Market Antique Shops: Eastern Market Antiques 2530 Market St.; Marketplace Antiques Gallery 2047 Gratiot Ave.; Russell Street Antiques 2461 Russell St.; Savvy Chic 2712 Riopelle St.
Cheap Charlies 1461 Gratiot [map] Every auto repair shop and factory in three counties must send their unwanted garments here, and it’s all $1. Pants? $1. Coveralls? $1. They also sell giant piggie banks, shopping carts, gloves, and socks.
Liberal Arts Gallery 3361 Gratiot Ave. [map]
Gardella Furniture 2306 Gratiot Ave. [map]
Discount Candles 1400 Gratiot Ave. [map]- hoodoo/witchcraft store, selling penis and vulva-shaped candles, lodestones, goofer dust, oils that keep police at bay, and candles that encourage a judge’s sympathy.
Where to Eat:
Russell Street Deli 2465 Russell St. [map] Open for lunch and breakfast, excellent sandwiches and plenty of vegetarian options.
Roma Cafe 3401 Riopelle St. [map] Detroit’s oldest Italian restaurant, and it feels like it. I think it might also have Detroit’s oldest waiters. Dates to the 1890s, the food is a bit dull but the experience makes up for it.
East Riverfront
Belle Isle [map] For more natural beauty, head to this island park in the Detroit River designed in part by Frederick Law Olmsted. Starting at its western edge, Belle Isle features a magnificent fountain designed by Cass Gilbert, a casino and conservatory, both designed by Alfred Kahn, a boat house designed by Eero Saarinen, a huge playground, a creepy abandoned zoo, forests, athletic fields, and a marble lighthouse on its eastern tip. The island also boasts the Detroit Yacht Club, a nature center, and a Great Lakes museum.
Indian Village Neighborhood [map] Still one of the most prestigious neighborhoods in Detroit, an eclectic collection of early 20th-century homes. There are also a number of amazing art deco apartment buildings closer to Jefferson, particularly the Kean Apartments.
Pewabic Pottery 10125 E. Jefferson Ave. [map] Detroit’s immense contribution to the international Arts & Crafts movement, this pottery school and studio founded by Mary Perry Stratton in 1903 still produces beautiful pottery and iridescent architectural tiles for use all over the world. The studio has a workshop, a small museum, and an excellent store that not only sells Pewabic’s traditional vases and architectural tiles, but also a juried selection of the works of over 50-75 ceramics artists from all over North America.
Far East Side This neighborhood borders the posh suburbs of Grosse Pointe, where there is so much old money and English Tudor architecture every time I go there I want to say ‘Tallyho!’ and drink warm beer before bashing myself in the head with a cricket bat.
Arts and Scraps 16135 Harper [map] A great place to pick up lots of art supplies for cheap while contributing to a great cause.
Mack Ave. Antique Shops: E.J. Berry, Another Time Antiques, the London Gallery Antique Mall, Park Antiques and Spectrum Antiques.
Cadieux Cafe 4300 Cadieux Rd. [map] Detroit’s center of Flemish culture, with Belgian food, Belgian beers on tap, and the only featherbowling lanes in the United States.
Hamtramck A separate municipality completely surrounded by Detroit, Hamtramck has its own police force, schools city government, etc. Once as an ethnic enclave for Polish immigrants working in the nearby auto plant, it became a haven for Ukranians, Macedonians, Albanians, Yemenis and Bosnians. Though traces of those populations remain, further waves of hipsters, Africans, and huge numbers of immigrants from Bangladesh have made Hamtramck one of the most diverse places around. Hamtramck also has an art community organized partly in the HATCH collective.
Things to See:
Bengali Architecture [map] A drive along Conant Avenue provides a great glimpse of Hamtramck’s diversity. This is where most of the Bengali businesses have taken root, and there is some great adaptive Bengali architecture on some of the buildings. It’s also a great place for food and shopping for Indian and Bengali goods (including several Sari shops).
Hamtramck Disneyland 12087 Klinger St., in alley behind the house [map] Overtaking his small city lot, this wild collection of folk art was built as a retirement project by Ukrainian immigrant Dmytro Szylak after 32 years working for General Motors. It started as a few small whirlygigs and grew to the massive collection of found objects. Unlike Detroit’s Heidelberg Project, Szylak actually found an ally in city hall when expanding his work (the former mayor of Hamtramck studied sculpture at Cranbrook).
Places to Shop:
Design 99 10022 Joseph Campau St. [map] A welcome newcomer, this great store (which has an equally amazing website) was opened by an artist-husband/architect-wife team and carries a surprising range of design-oriented products (almost all created by Detroit-area artists and designers) at a nice range of prices, including furniture, lamps, art, clothing, jewelry, paper goods, and a revolving collection of carefully-curated vintage finds. Check out the projects by Peter Dunn, the modern quilts by Abigail Anne Newbold, and the Citizen Jane geometric appliqué shirts. Design 99 also offers an innovative “99 cents a minute” over-the-counter design advice.
Polish Art Center 9539 Jos Campau [map] Kitschy collection of Polish imports, from dried Borowiki mushrooms to gorgeous Wycinanki roosters.
Record Graveyard 10201 Joseph Campau [map] A vast collection of vinyl to spend a few hours browsing.
Detroit Threads 10238 Joseph Campau St. [map] Storefront record store, vintage clothing shop, and Detroit-themed screenprinter.
Ross Coated Fabric 9451 Buffalo St [map] A source for fabrics used in the auto industry. I haven’t been there myself, but I’ve been told you can get the really interesting fabric there at great prices.
Places to Eat:
CAFE1923 2287 Holbrook St. [map] An excellent little coffee shop across from the Kowalski hot dog factory (don’t miss the 12-foot neon hot dog or the vintage hot dog superhero painted on the western wall) opened in the owner’s grandfather’s 1923 storefront. I love the counter made from wood recovered from an old bowling alley.
Polish food: They’re kind of like Taquerias in San Francisco’s Mission District (everyone has a favorite) but almost all of Hamtramck’s Polish restaurants have their virtues. Try Under the Eagle 9000 Joseph Campau St. [map] or Polonia 2934 Yemans St. [map] for excellent handmade pirogies, stuffed cabbage, dill pickle soup, sausage and sauerkraut.
Buddy’s Pizza 17125 Conant St. [map] A Detroit institution.
New Center:
Things to See:
Russell Industrial Center [map] This former factory complex designed by Albert Kahn is enjoying a new life as a vast space for artist studios, including metalworkers, glass blowers, musicians, painters, photographers, architects, clothing designers, and candle makers. The longest tenant is a guy who still makes parts for Ford Model Ts, which were once built just down the block. The Russell Industrial Center holds regular open studios, and this past year they held a successful “People’s Art Festival” with hundreds of artists and a full schedule of bands.
Piquette Factories [map] The area around the Russell Industrial Center, particularly on Piquette Ave., was the womb of the modern industrial world. This was where Henry Ford had his first assembly line to build his first Model Ts. Other early car companies sprung up around it. Today, many of the industrial buildings have been lost, but some, like the vast white Fisher plant remain.
Fisher Building 3011 West Grand Boulevard [map] Given a blank check in 1927 to create “the most beautiful building in the world,” architect Albert Kahn’s grandiose plans were stymied by the great depression, but the Fisher Building, at least for a time, lived up to its promise. Its once-gilded roof is now covered in green terra cotta, the stores in its arcade are not the paragons of glamor they once were, and the bathroom fixtures are no longer gold-plated, but when you step inside it is hard not to be overwhelmed by the grandeur of small details.
Across the street is another Kahn masterpiece, the four neoclassical skyscrapers of the former General Motors headquarters.
Motown Museum 2648 W. Grand Blvd. [map] this small house known as “Hitsville, USA” was the birthplace and first recording studio of the influential record company.
Places to Shop:
Pure Detroit [two locations] Fisher Building Lobby, 3011 W. Grand Blvd, Suite 101 [map]; Guardian Building Lobby, 500 Griswold, Suite 250 [map]. With locations in Detroit’s two most-striking art deco office buildings (as well as an auto-related store in the GM Renaissance Center), this store carries their own line of t-shirts, Motor City Handbags, and a large collection of Detroit-related books and products.
Vera Jane Fisher Building Lobby, 3011 W. Grand Blvd, Suite 113 [map] Another retail spot from the people behind Pure Detroit, Vera Jane sells well-designed women’s coats, handbags, and lingerie.
Woodbridge, Grand River. A neighborhood of well-maintained brick Victorian homes, Woodbridge is primarily residential, but there are several interesting stops along Grand River.
Things to See:
Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit 5141 Rosa Parks Blvd [map]
Alley Culture Alley between Willis and Trumbull [underground art gallery]
555 Gallery/Studios 4884 Grand River Ave. [map]
4731 Gallery/Studio 4731 Grand River Ave. [map]
Trumbullplex 4210 Trumbull [map] “a housing collective composed of artists, musicians and local activists . . .[With] an active showspace that has been operating for over 20 years.”
Places to Shop:
Architectural Salvage Warehouse of Detroit 4885 15th Street [map]
Dabls African Bead Gallery 6559 Grand River [map] A seemingly infinite number of imported African beads, with an incredible folk art exhibition out back.
Further Afield:
The Detroit Metro Area is a vast range of suburban municipalities that stretch throughout southeast Michigan from old money enclaves to impoverished industrial communities to characterless collections of strip malls, big box stores, and mcmansions. I try not to spend any money outside the city limits of Detroit, so I don’t know a lot about shopping outside the city. I’m sure people can use the comments to contribute anything worth noting in the suburbs. I will include a couple places worthwhile from a design perspective.
Cranbrook Educational Community 39221 Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills [map] If you only go one place in the Detroit suburbs, this should be it. A sprawling campus of arts and crafts educational buildings designed by Eliel Saarinen, Crabrook’s art school was the primordial ooze where some of the best-known mid-century modern design was born. The shortlist: Eliel and Eero Saarinen, Carl Milles, Florence Knoll, Harry Bertoia, Ralph Rapson, and a young teacher Ray Kaiser who was seduced by the married head of the design department, a man named Charles Eames.
The grounds include dozens of the elder Saarinen’s buildings and an English-manor-style house designed by Detroit virtuoso Albert Kahn. The art museum is currently showing an exhibit on Eero Saarinen, who lived on the grounds, attended the school, and maintained an office in Bloomfield Hills and nearby Ann Arbor.
General Motors Industrial Center E. 12 Mile Rd. and Mound Rd. [map] This is the campus where GM designers and engineers plan and design innovative new cars (the fiberglass-body Corvette was designed here) and it may be Eero Saarinen’s greatest and least-recognized works of midcentury architecture. Highlights include the water tower, the central restaurant (with a huge wire sculpture by native Detroiter and Cass Tech alum Harry Bertoia), the auditorium, and the sublime staircase inside the research and design lobby. Access to the complex is limited, and photography is almost impossible. There is a gallery in the design center that features work done featuring work done by GM designers in their free time. The exhibitions are temporary and accessible to the public by appointment only.
Henry Ford Museum/Greenfield Village Dearborn [map] Both the museum and village have their cheesy elements, but there are a lot of pieces at both to interest anyone with an appreciation for early design during the industrial revolution, particularly those massive grease-and-metal translators of fuel into energy. The museum houses an impressive collection of cars, planes, trains, furniture, and mid-century nostalgia. Right now there is an exhibition featuring the works of Isamu Noguchi and Buckminster Fuller.
Hollanders Decorative Paper 410 N. Fourth Avenue, Ann Arbor [map] A bit far from Detroit, but with thousands of styles of hand-made, machine-made, and one-of-a-kind papers, Hollanders is one of the largest suppliers of decorative paper and bookbinding supplies in the world.
Royal Oak This suburb has a number of little design shops (like Vertu, Linear Contemporary Furniture, Bright Ideas) and even more important, a walkable “downtown.” Royal Oak is also home to Context Furniture, which uses the techniques of “mass costumization” in creating a line of really cool, simple furniture.
Ferndale This suburb is home to a large gay population and has a nice commercial strip centered where Nine Mile crosses Woodward. Highlights include Naka, Contempo Home, Beautiful Home, Elegance by Design, R2 Home, and the Susan Hilberry Gallery.
[A word about safety: Inevitably you’re going to hear something about Detroit’s dangerous neighborhoods, or its status as the country’s “most dangerous city.” Remember that the vast majority of victims in Detroit (as elsewhere) knew their attackers. So if you’re careful and avoid slinging rocks on someone else’s corner, you should be fine. It can be a rough city, but I have driven down nearly every block taking photographs and I’ve never felt as though I was in danger. As with anything, your own perception of safety will vary with your experience. The vast, vast majority of Detroiters are honest, decent people. Many have lived hard lives, but almost all will treat you with kindness and respect if you are willing to give them the same. Just be smart.]