The Fisher Building and the New Center Building are two office buildings located adjacent to one another at 7430 2nd Avenue and 3011 West Grand Boulevard in the New Center area of

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. They share a 1980 listing on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

Fisher Building

The Fisher Building is a 30-story office building designed by Albert Kahn. It was built in 1928, constructed primarily of

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

, and

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...

. It was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

on June 29, 1989, has been nicknamed ''Detroit's largest art object''.Houston, Kay and Linda Culpepper (March 20, 2001
The most beautiful building in the world
Michigan History, ''The Detroit News''. Retrieved on November 23, 2007. The building was to house the automotive company Fisher Body of the Fisher brothers (Frederick, Charles, William, Lawrence, Edward, Alfred and Howard), and is widely considered Kahn's greatest achievement. The year of its construction, the Fisher building was honored by the Architectural League of New York as the year's most beautiful commercial structure. The opulent three-story barrel vaulted lobby is constructed with 40 different kinds of marble, decorated by Hungarian artist Géza Maróti, and is highly regarded by architects.AIA Detroit Urban Priorities Committee, (January 10, 2006
Top 10 Detroit Interiors
''Model D Media''. Retrieved on January 14, 2008.

New Center Building

The New Center Building was also designed by Kahn and built by the Fisher brothers.Randall Fogelman
''Detroit's New Center,'' Arcadia Publishing, 2004, , pp. 54-56. The ten-story building is architecturally similar to the Fisher Building, and the two are connected by a tunnel. The building was originally designed to house office and retail space, but as of 2004 houses only offices, including those of Albert Kahn and Associates. The building was renamed the Albert Kahn Building in 1988.

Significance

The Fisher Building was built in 1927–1928; the New Center Building followed in 1930–31.
from History, Arts, and Libraries at the state of Michigan. The two buildings are the only structures built by the Fishers in the New Center; although more buildings were planned, the Great Depression and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

intervened.Randall Fogelman
''Detroit's New Center,'' Arcadia Publishing, 2004, , p. 7. However, the Fisher and New Center Buildings as a pair are an architecturally significant complex demonstrating some of the finest craftsmanship and artistry in Art Deco style buildings. The two buildings were added to the

on October 14, 1980; the Fisher Building was designated a

on June 29, 1989.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Michigan Office buildings in Detroit Buildings and structures completed in 1927 Buildings and structures completed in 1930 Art Deco architecture in Michigan National Register of Historic Places in Detroit