Albert Kahn, Detroit, Michigan
(born 1869, Rhaunen, Germany; died 1942, Detroit, Michigan)
Formed firm in 1902
Continues today as Albert Kahn Associates
Born in Rhaunen, Germany, Albert Kahn and family emigrated to Detroit in 1880. His Formal education stopped at that point. In 1884, he was hired by the Detroit firm of Mason & Rice.1 Although his formal education had stopped, he received informal training through George D. Mason, one of the partners in the firm.2 In 1896, he formed the firm of Kahn, Nettleton and Trowbridge with two other architects. This firm was dissolved and in 1902, and he started his own firm.3 It continues today as Albert Kahn Associates.
Albert Kahn and his firm were renowned for their innovative, functional designs for factories and industrial buildings. However, the office was also noted for their commercial, institutional and residential work. The Saginaw Consumers Power building is typical of the firm’s non-factory buildings. Unlike their utilitarian work, they have used a historical vocabulary to create a building that is both functional and decorative.
Representative Work:
Saginaw:
Consumers Power Building
Bay City:
First National Bank, 1912
Industrial Brown Hoist office
William & Jessie Clements Stable (Now a residence)4
Detroit:
Fisher Building
River Rouge Plant5
Sources
1 Daralice Donkervoet Boles. “Albert Kahn." Macmillian Encyclopedia of Architects. Ed. Adolf K. Placzek. New York: The Free Press. 1982. 535-536.
2W. Hawkins Ferry. The Legacy of Albert Kahn. Detroit: Wayne State UP.
3Boles. “Albert Kahn.”
4Dale Patrick Wolicki. The Historic Architecture of Bay City, Michigan. Bay City, Michigan: Bay County Historical Society. 1998. 170, 193 196.
5W. Hawkins Ferry. The Legacy of Albert Kahn.
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