Detroit’s largest art object recalls Art Deco’s gilded glory

Staking a claim as “Detroit’s largest art object” in the text of a state historical marker in the Fisher Building’s lobby may seem like audacious hyperbole, but exploring the beauty of the city’s best-known Art Deco gem lends credence to the statement.

I’d last visited the building many years ago when I attended a musical at the Fisher Theater before my most recent visit on a weekday afternoon. A banner announcing the building’s 80^th anniversary and a few vintage photographs showing businesses like a dress store and florist that originally occupied the building were the only signs of the prior day’s celebration of the milestone. But it was back to business as usual this weekday at the Fisher as theater patrons visited the box office, business people with briefcases and laptops scurried through the building and a few visitors shopped or enjoyed a cup of coffee in the building’s main arcade.

Built in 1928 and designed for the automotive pioneering Fisher family by the firm of the renowned architect Albert Kahn, with Joseph Nathaniel French as the chief architect, original plans for the project included a three-building complex with several towers. The stock market crash of 1929 and resulting Great Depression meant scaling back the project to a smaller building with just one tower, but the resulting structure stands today as an opulent monument to the gilded glories of Art Deco style.

The original three-building plan carried a projected tab of $35 million dollars. The scaled down version of the project eventually executed still cost $10 million dollars, with a quarter of that amount going into artwork and many of the luxurious trims still evident throughout the building.

Ornate grillwork and wall sconces, massive pendant lamps, colorfully hand-painted ceilings, gold leaf and marble throughout the building, intricate banisters and stairway handrails, a main arcade with soaring three-story barrel vault ceilings, along with carved interior and exterior stonework and bronze work are just a few of the luxurious touches that continue to maintain the Fisher’s status as a Detroit landmark.

The State of Michigan recognized the Fisher Building’s unique status by recognizing it as a Michigan Historical Landmark in 1978. The building became a National Historic Landmark in 1989.

The Fisher Building is home to WJR-AM radio, broadcasting for many years from atop the Fisher’s tall tower.

Today, other local radio stations join WJR in broadcasting from the Fisher and the building bustles with businesses ranging from Pure Detroit, which sells logo and other Detroit-oriented merchandise in a small store on the first floor, to assorted professional offices occupying the upper floors of the building.

The original plans for the Fisher represented an optimistic vision for Detroit’s future. The Fisher’s continuing beauty and service as a commercial center serves not only as a nod to Detroit’s past glories, but as testament to the city’s heart and continued perseverance in an admittedly challenging economic climate.

© Dominique King 2008

Comments

[Rachel Burton]

I've always wanted to visit the Fisher. I've seen shows at the Fox though, and it's gorgeous as well!

[Dominique]

The Fox -is- beautiful. The Detroit Film Theater auditorium at the Detroit Institute of Arts was designed with the help of the Fox's architect (something I mentioned in my blog about the DFT last week). It's nice to see when some of these 1920s era Art Deco gems are occupied and kept in nice condition.
Other buildings left to rot, like the old train station and some of the old theaters around Grand Circus here, are heartbreaking to see.
I'd wanted to visit the Fisher again, and we managed to do that when we came down one day to see the Motown Museum just down the street from there (yup, I'll be blogging about the Motown Museum sometime in January).