The Patrick V. McNamara Federal Building is a class-A skyscraper located at 477 Michigan Avenue in Downtown

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 ...

, designed by the Detroit architectural firm of Smith, Hinchman and Grylls. It opened in 1976 to consolidate the offices of federal agencies which were scattered in several locations in the area. It houses offices of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Army Corps of Engineers,

Defense Contract Management Agency The Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) is an agency of the United States federal government reporting to the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment. It is responsible for administering contracts for the Department of ...

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

United States Department of Housing and Urban Development The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the Secretary of Housing and Ur ...

(HUD), Internal Revenue Service,

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John F ...

Railroad Retirement Board The U.S. Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) is an independent agency in the executive branch of the United States government created in 1935 to administer a social insurance program providing retirement benefits to the country's railroad workers. T ...

, Veteran Affairs (VA), The American Legion Department of Michigan and

Social Security Administration The United States Social Security Administration (SSA) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that administers Social Security, a social insurance program consisting of retirement, disability and survivor benefits. To qualify ...

. It is named for Patrick V. McNamara, a Democratic

United States Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

from the State of Michigan from 1955 to 1966. It has recently suffered a legionella outbreak.

Occupants

*U.S. Census Bureau

Architecture

The tower contains approximately on 27 floors and is in the brutalist architectural style. The corners are recessed providing additional strength to the structure and eliminating the battle for corner offices. The building is surrounded by a large plaza which covers the concourse level, parking garage, loading dock and a sunken fountain. In 1987, the tall modern sculpture ''Detroit Deliquescence'' by John Chamberlain was installed on the plaza. The sculpture, which consists of crushed auto body panels, was commissioned under the Art in Architecture program by

General Services Administration The General Services Administration (GSA) is an independent agency of the United States government established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. GSA supplies products and communications for U.S. gover ...

(GSA) in 1977 for $100,000. However, it could not be placed at its intended location due to deterioration of the plaza. After the GSA and building's contractor reached a settlement for repairs, it was installed in 1987. Between the time of its completion in 1983 and 1987, the sculpture was placed at Walter P. Reuther Library of Labor and Urban Affairs on the campus of nearby Wayne State University. From the time of its installation at Wayne State, the sculpture proved unpopular with critics and members of the public. During additional repairs to the plaza in 2001, the sculpture was removed and sent for conservation. The years of exposure to the elements caused damage and GSA made the decision to relocate it to an interior space. After a two-year search for a recipient, the College for Creative Studies agreed to accept the work for its new A. Alfred Taubman Center for Design Education. It was installed for the center's opening in 2009. The lobby of the building houses three works, an acrylic and fiber painting by

Sam Gilliam Sam Gilliam ( ; November 30, 1933 – June 25, 2022) was an American color field painter and lyrical abstractionist artist. Gilliam was associated with the Washington Color School, a group of Washington, D.C.-area artists that developed a form ...

entitled ''Box Cars Grand'' and an oil on panel piece by Harold Cohn called ''Decorative Map of Belle Isle''. On September 22, 2001, a Federal Officer was killed in the lobby by a visitor who became angry when told he would not be able to take his gun into the building.

References

External links

Official building site
* * {{Architecture of metropolitan Detroit Skyscraper office buildings in Detroit Downtown Detroit Government buildings completed in 1976 1976 establishments in Michigan

Occupants

Architecture

See also

References

Further reading

External links