  Kathleen Member Username: Kathleen Post Number: 3027 Registered: 10-2003 |
Wayne State University Press is publishing a new book The Guardian Building: Cathedral of Finance this month. The Guardian Building Cathedral of Finance By James W. Tottis Available September 2008 ISBN (Cloth): 9780814333853 Size: 9 x 12, 192 Pgs., 133 Illus. Price: $50.00L (Cloth) The years between World War I and the economic collapse of 1929 witnessed Detroit’s greatest building boom. Perhaps the most recognizable and innovative structure erected during that era was the Union Trust Building, now known as the Guardian Building. Designed by Wirt Rowland—of the firm Smith, Hinchman, and Grylls—the Guardian’s expressive Gothic-inspired elements, bright orange brick facade, and brightly colored ceramic accents immediately set it apart from the surrounding buildings of Detroit’s financial district. The interior is similarly extravagant, with a lobby ceiling made entirely of multicolored tiles, walls and floors accented by exotic marbles, and platinum-colored Monel metal elevator doors, gates, and handrails. In The Guardian Building James W. Tottis tells the story of the opulent block-long tower, the influential company that commissioned it, and the under-appreciated architect responsible for its design. In full-color historic and contemporary photos, Tottis details everything from the china designed by the architect for use in the Guardian dining room to the building’s rarely seen upper banking room. Tottis also investigates the sources of design and materials for the Guardian, finding that it brought together the finest artisans, craftsmen, and firms of the time, including Rookwood Pottery, Pewabic Pottery, Moline Furniture Works, architectural sculptor Joe Parducci, and muralist Ezra Winter. The thorough history and visual tour of The Guardian Building proves that even among the many significant Depression-era buildings of Detroit, the Guardian is unique. Architecture buffs as well as those interested in Detroit history and culture will enjoy this elegant and informative volume. http://www2.wsupress.wayne.edu /book.php?id=62 | ||
Rhymeswithrawk Member Username: Rhymeswithrawk Post Number: 1443 Registered: 11-2005 |
Ooooo! Can't wait! | ||
Pixiedust Member Username: Pixiedust Post Number: 11 Registered: 08-2008 |
Thanks for the information, Kathleen. I will definitely acquire this volume. As I've mentioned in a different thread, I'm obsessed with the Guardian Building. And, if there is anyone who hasn't done so already, go to the Guardian, ask for Christopher, and take the free tour of the place. There's no other building in the world that is quite like this one. | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 7253 Registered: 08-2004 |
I just took another tour bus full of Europeans thru the Guardian Building last Tuesday, as part of a tour of Detroit. Usually it's German visitors, but this time it was Hungarian. They marvelled that a "mere" bank could have such a lavish look (hence the "Cathedral of Finance" name). One of the things I alway like to point out to out of towners is that the ox blood red Numidian marble in parts of the lobby was from a mine in Tunisia that had been closed for decades, and was reopened to remove every last piece of that richly colored marble they could find. At the Guardian Building the main lobby doubles as the landing to the imperial staircase, a feature that is repeated at the DIA (but in reverse... the lower stairs are the double stairs at the DIA while the lower stairs are the single central stairs at the Guardian Building). The Guardian Building contains vast quantities of tile from the Midwest's 2 leading potteries... Rookwood of Cincinnati (now defunct, but VERY collectible), and Pewabic (which closed in the 60's and reopened later). The outside of the building contains mainly Pewabic, while the ceiling of the lobby is Rookwood. Another feature that the busload of Hungarians found interesting is that there is horse hair in the ceiling of the former main banking hall. They were puzzled by that, until I mentioned that there is no echo in the hall, because the fancy painted horse hair in the ceiling absorbs the sound. If the Guardian Building is not America's finest Art Deco bank building, I certainly would like to know what is... | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 7254 Registered: 08-2004 |
In his book "The Buildings of Detroit", the late W. Hawkins Ferry was somewhat critical of the Guardian Building. But then again, his first edition of that book came out in 1968, during the heyday of the International Style of architecture (and during the infancy of the historic preservation movement). Maybe during that era when old buildings (such as the United Artists) were reclad with a modern veneer (so you won't have to look at all that old stuff anymore), the Guardian Building seemed to be "way over the top" in design. But since then people have learned to better appreciate the lavishness of the older styles, and the Guardian Building has aged gracefully (thanks to a 1984 restoration by former owner/tenant MichCon, since absorbed into DTE Energy) and is much more loved today. | ||
Pixiedust Member Username: Pixiedust Post Number: 12 Registered: 08-2008 |
Gistok, thank you for "preaching the word." We have a lot of treasures to take pride in here in the D, and the Guardian may be our "crown jewel." | ||
Mortalman Member Username: Mortalman Post Number: 149 Registered: 03-2007 |
Is photography allowed inside the Guardian Building? | ||
Rhymeswithrawk Member Username: Rhymeswithrawk Post Number: 1445 Registered: 11-2005 |
"Is photography allowed inside the Guardian Building?" Yep, knock yourself out! | ||
Mortalman Member Username: Mortalman Post Number: 150 Registered: 03-2007 |
I was in LA recently and it was so hard to get permission to photograph some of the remaining examples of art deco that I just gave up. Furthermore, it was just as hard to photograph buildings along the main thoroughfares in LA. I was photographing some buildings across the street at 5th and Flower Sts. when I had security people from the buildings across the street from where I was come across the street and challenge me concerning my photography. I challenged their authority to keep me from taking pictures on a public street. Two minutes later an LA Police cruiser pulled up, got out and challenged me by asking what I was doing. They hassled me so much that it just wasn't worth it. These kinds of experiences like these were repeated in Cleveland and Chicago. They all used 9/11 as an excuse to hassle me. I think that there are a lot of people in authority that use that as a reason to control people and their freedom to the pursuit of their interests. And that's the reason I was asking if you can photograph inside the Guardian Building. It's good to know it is allowed. | ||
Jiminnm Member Username: Jiminnm Post Number: 1763 Registered: 02-2005 |
I have a copy of Tottis' thesis on the Guardian Bldg submitted to Wayne State for an MA in Art History (interestingly titled "The Cathedral of Finance"). I think it dates from the mid-late 1980s. I will take a look at his book to see how much more is there because the thesis was good but somewhat thin on details. | ||
Rb336 Member Username: Rb336 Post Number: 7490 Registered: 02-2007 |
guardian - most beautiful office building in the country, I believe. | ||
Vas Member Username: Vas Post Number: 936 Registered: 01-2004 |
Gistok, What kind of tour guide work do you do? Is it through the AAA or something? Have you heard of the Dutch travel guest program? I read an article on it about a year ago. Visitors pay a small fee to have dinner with a host in town. It allows for some home cooked meals, good conversation/information for the toursit and a nice local welcome. I would love to see that happen here in Detroit | ||
Fareastsider Member Username: Fareastsider Post Number: 960 Registered: 08-2006 |
I had a Detroit architecture class taught by Tottis at Wayne State. He is a walking fact book of unbelievable amounts of information about local buildings and art. We even took a tour of the Guardian and he knew every last detail. I look forward to getting a copy of the book as I know the author is passionate and well educated on the Guardian Building. | ||
Gistok Member Username: Gistok Post Number: 7256 Registered: 08-2004 |
Vas, I do tours for the German clubs of Metro Detroit on the side. Usually it's a tour bus full of visiting dance troupes or brass bands that come to visit Detroit, Cleveland, Akron, Cincinnati, Chicago and Milwaukee... all metro areas with large German populations. It's usually only once a year, and this year it happened to be a Hungarian dance troup (of mostly ethnic Germans whose ancestors move to Hungary from Germany in the 18th Century). I always do the same exact tour... 1) Ford House in Grosse Pointe Shores (where afterwards we have a lunch picnic on the grounds). 2) drive down palatial Lakeshore Dr. into Detroit. 3) One loop around Belle Isle with a 5 minute stop near the western tip to allow for photos of the Detroit/Windsor skyline. 4) A 1/2 hour stop inside the Guardian Building. 5) A loop around the People Mover. 6) A stop at Comerica Park to get a nice group photo in front of the tiger that swoops down with his paws. And then it's back to the German clubhouse in Sterling Heights. We try to keep the itinerary on the light side, since these folks are usually jet lagged, and plus they have to put on a folks dance performance usually that night. And this time coming from Hungary, the dances are usually pretty vigorous, such as a Hungarian Czardas. The reason I always keep to the same identical tour is because it always drives the hosts in Cleveland, Chicago, Milwaukee and Cincinnati crazy, when the visiting tour groups always remark on how nice Detroit is...  It seems that the other cities I mentioned don't provide as thorough a tour to their hosts, and in the case of Chicago, the folks are often housed 50 miles from the loop, and they often get little more consideration than a trip to Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg. Often the only visit to Chicago these folks get is on their way to the suburbs. |
