Albert Kahn (March 21, 1869 – December 8, 1942) was an American architect who collaborated with his brother Julius Kahn in designing industrial plant complexes such as the Ford River Rouge automobile complex. Based in Detroit, he also designed skyscrapers, office buildings, and mansions in the city and suburbs, as well as many buildings at University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Kahn has been called the "architect of Detroit" as the designer of nearly 900 buildings in the city.
Kahn led an organization of hundreds of architect associates, and in 1937, designed 19% of all architect-designed industrial factories in the United States. Under a unique contract in 1929, he established a design and training office in Moscow, sending twenty-five staff there to train Soviet architects and engineers, and to design hundreds of industrial buildings under their first five-year plan. They trained more than 4,000 architects and engineers using Kahn's concepts. In 1943, the Franklin Institute posthumously awarded Kahn the Frank P. Brown Medal.
Early life and education Kahn was born on March 21, 1869, to a Jewish family in Rhaunen, in the Kingdom of Prussia, today in Germany. He received his early education in the school of Luxembourg. At age twelve in 1881, Kahn immigrated with his family to Detroit, Michigan. His father Joseph was trained as a rabbi; his mother Rosalie had a talent for the visual arts and music. Kahn had four brothers, including Moritz, who became an engineer, and Julius Kahn, an engineer and inventor, who later collaborated with him in his architectural firm. They also had two sisters, one of whom, Mollie Kahn Fuchs, later worked closely with Julius to create a type of reinforced concrete that would later be patented.
When the family immigrated to America, Kahn quickly learned English and went to Detroit public schools. In 1883, he got a job at the architectural business of Mason and Rice where he got his initial architectural training, working primarily on residences and bank buildings.
In 1891, at age 22, Kahn won a Rotch Traveling Fellowship to study in Europe, where he toured Germany, France, Italy, and Belgium with fellow student Henry Bacon, who later designed the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.Borth, Christy. Masters of Mass Production, Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill Co., 1945, pp. 97-100.
Kahn married Ernestine Krolik in 1896, and they had four children. Ernestine would later briefly serve as a vice president in her husband's business, and often helped him with color and fabric selection in designs.
Career
Kahn left Mason and Rice in 1895, entering into a partnership with Alexander B. Trowbridge and George W. Nettleton known as Nettleton, Kahn & Trowbridge. In 1902, Kahn formed a partnership with his brother Julius, a civil engineer. Later that year, Julius developed a novel and scientific method of reinforcing concrete with steel, making reinforced concrete construction practical and economical. After receiving a patent on the "Kahn System" of construction in 1903, Julius left Kahn's firm and established the Trussed Concrete Steel Company, or Truscon, to market the product. Reinforced concrete allowed for much larger open spaces within factory interiors not obtainable with conventional wood construction and at a lower cost than steel frame construction. Concrete had other beneficial characteristics, such as far better protection from fire and greater load-bearing capacity.
By 1905, hundreds of buildings within the United States were being constructed using the Kahn System, including the first reinforced concrete automobile plant, completed for the Cadillac Motor Car Company at 450 Amsterdam Street in TechTown, Detroit.Smith, Michael G., "The First Concrete Auto Factory: An Error in the Historical Record," Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians (2019) 78 (4): 442–453. Julius Kahn collaborated with his brother on the design of many industrial projects throughout the US constructed with reinforced concrete, particularly automobile factories, with the result that Kahn became widely known for his expertise in the construction of concrete industrial structures.
Kahn was also responsible for designing many of the buildings and houses built under the direction of the Hiram Walker family in Walkerville, Ontario, including Willistead Manor. Kahn's interest in historically styled buildings is also seen in his houses in Detroit's Indian Village, the Cranbrook House, the Edsel & Eleanor Ford House, and The Dearborn Inn, the world's first airport hotel. Kahn's firm designed the Art Deco Fisher Building in Detroit's New Center area, a 28-story designated landmark. In 1929, the building was awarded a silver medal by the Architectural League of New York in the category of the year's most beautiful commercial building.
From 1917 to 1929, Kahn's firm also designed the corporate headquarters for all three of the major Detroit daily newspapers and the General Motors building, at the time of its completion in 1922, the second-largest office building in the world. His work was part of the architecture event in the art competition at the 1928 Summer Olympics.
Michigan
Henry Ford became interested in Kahn's unique designs that showed many benefits. Ford had Kahn design Ford Motor Company's Highland Park Ford Plant in 1909, for developing production techniques in the assembly line of manufacturing the Ford Model T on a large scale. In 1917, Kahn designed the half-mile-long Ford River Rouge Complex in Dearborn, Michigan. That factory complex was developed into the largest manufacturing cluster of plants in the United States and later the largest industrial manufacturer in the world with a workforce of 120,000 employees.Borth, Christy. Masters of Mass Production, pp. 107-8, Bobbs-Merrill Company, Indianapolis, IN, 1945.Herman, Arthur. Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II, p. 22, Random House, New York, NY, 2012. .
Kahn also designed many of what are considered the classic buildings of the University of Michigan in the city of Ann Arbor. These include Angell Hall, Burton Memorial Tower, Hill Auditorium, Hatcher Graduate Library, and William L. Clements Library. Kahn said later in life that, of all the buildings he designed, he wanted most to be remembered for his work on the William L. Clements Library. Kahn frequently collaborated with architectural sculptor Corrado Parducci. In all, Parducci worked on about 50 Kahn commissions, including banks, office buildings, newspaper buildings, mausoleums, hospitals, and private residences.Borth, Christy. Masters of Mass Production, pp. 109-10, 120-28, Bobbs-Merrill Co., Indianapolis, IN, 1945.
Kahn's firm was able to adapt to the changing needs of World War I and designed numerous army airfields and naval bases for the United States government during the war. During World War II, Kahn and his firm were in charge of several of the U.S. government's important construction projects that included aeronautical and tank arsenal plants. His 600-person office was involved in making Detroit industry part of America's Arsenal of Democracy. Among others, the office designed the Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant, and the Willow Run Bomber Plant, Kahn's last building, located in Ypsilanti, Michigan. The Ford Motor Company mass-produced Consolidated B-24 Liberator bombers here.
In 1937, Albert Kahn Associates was responsible for 19% of all architect-designed industrial factories in the United States. In 1941, Kahn received the eighth-highest salary and compensation package in the U.S., $486,936, of which he paid 72% in tax. Kahn worked on more than 1,000 commissions from Henry Ford and hundreds from other automakers. Kahn designed showrooms for Ford Motor Company in several cities, including New York, Washington, D.C., and Boston.
Historic designations As of 2020, approximately 60 Kahn buildings were listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Five of these (the Fisher Building, Ford River Rouge complex, Edsel and Eleanor Ford House, General Motors Building, and Highland Park Ford Plant) were designated National Historic Landmarks. Not all of Kahn's works have been preserved. Cass Technical High School in Detroit, designed by Malcomson and Higginbotham and built by Kahn's firm in 1922, was demolished in 2011, after vandals had stripped it of most of its fixtures.Cass Tech High School (old). Historic Detroit. Retrieved on November 20, 2014. The Donovan Building, later occupied by Motown Records, was abandoned for decades and deteriorated. The city demolished it as part of its beautification plan before the 2006 Super Bowl XL. In Kalamazoo, Michigan, the Kahn designed Checker Cab Manufacturing plant was shuttered following the bankruptcy of Checker Motors Corporation, in 2009. It was leveled in 2015.
Fifteen Kahn buildings are recognized by official Michigan historical markers: Battle Creek Post Office The Dearborn Inn Detroit Arsenal Plant in Warren, Michigan Detroit Free Press Building Detroit News Building Detroit Urban League (Albert Kahn House) Eastern Liggett School Edsel & Eleanor Ford House Fisher Building Ford Motor Company Lamp Factory Grosse Pointe Shores Village Hall Highland Park Ford Plant Packard Automotive Plant Packard Proving Grounds Willow Run
In the Soviet Union On May 8, 1929, through an agreement signed with Kahn by Saul G. Bron, President of Amtorg, the Soviet government contracted Albert Kahn Associates to help design the Stalingrad Tractor Plant, the first tractor plant in the USSR. On January 9, 1930, a second contract with Kahn was signed for his firm to become consulting architects for all industrial construction in the Soviet Union. Under these contracts, during 1929 to 1932 and the Great Depression, Kahn's firm established a design and training bureau in Moscow to train and supervise Soviet architects and engineers. This bureau, under the government's Gosproektstroi, was headed by Moritz Kahn and 25 others of Kahn Associates staff, who worked in Moscow during this project. They trained more than 4,000 Soviet architects and engineers; and designed 521 plants and factories under the nation's first five-year plan.
Kahn-designed buildings Below is a selected list of buildings designed by Kahn. All are located in Detroit unless otherwise indicated.
Dexter M. Ferry summer residence, 1890 (remodeling of an early 19th-century stone farmhouse), Unadilla, New York (known as Milfer Farm, held by Ferry heirs today; Kahn also designed the "Honeymoon Cottage" on the estate, one of the earliest prefabricated houses built) Hiram Walker offices, 1892, designer for Mason & Rice, Windsor, Ontario William Livingstone House, 1894 designer for Mason & Rice (demolished, 2007) Children's Free Hospital, 1896, Nettleton, Kahn & Trowbridge Bethany Memorial Church, 1897, Nettleton, Kahn & Trowbridge Bernard Ginsburg House, 1898, Nettleton & Kahn Joseph R. McLaughlin, 1899, Nettleton & Kahn George Headley, 1900, Nettleton & Kahn Edward DeMille Campbell House, 1899, Nettleton & Kahn Ann Arbor, Michigan Detroit Racquet Club, 1902 (Kahn designed the building, and the Vinton Company, whose offices were just down Woodbridge Street from the club, was awarded the general contract for erecting the facilities) Frederick L. Colby, building permit issued May 22, 1901, finished 1902 Packard Automotive Plant, 1903 (Kahn's tenth factory built for Packard, but first concrete one) Palms Apartments, 1903 Temple Beth-El, 1903 (Kahn's home synagogue, now the Bonstelle Theatre of Wayne State University) Belle Isle Aquarium and Conservatory, 1904 Francis C. McMath, building permit issued August 14, 1902, finished 1904 Brandeis-Millard House, 1904, Gold Coast Historic District, Midtown Omaha, Nebraska Arthur Kiefer, building permit issued May 17, 1905, finished 1905 Charles M. Swift, 1905 Albert Kahn House, 1906 (his personal residence)