It's always fun to check back in at my alma mater once in a while, and it was especially fun to take some birds-eye view photos of Wayne State University from the roof of a parking structure near the heart of campus at Warren and Cass Avenues.
This view up Cass Avenue shows State Hall (where I had many classes) in the left foreground and the Prentis Building a little further up the road.
A closer look at the Prentis Building, designed by renowned architect Minoru Yamasaki, and, in the upper left-hand corner of the photo, a view of the Student Center building. We always said the building looked like a computer punch-card (yeah, anyone remember those?).
The last photo is a view of the historic Old Main building. Old Main was built in 1896 as Central High School. The high school added college classes in 1913 and eventually evolved into WSU's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
Wayne State has a lot of architecturally significant buildings and an interesting history. Check it out in A History of Wayne State University in Photographs by Evelyn Aschenbrenner. You can also check out the recently published (2015) Yamasaki in Detrroit: A Search for Serenity by John Gallagher for more photos of Yamasaki's work in Detroit, which included several notable buildings on Wayne State's campus.
Thanks to Debbie Dubrow of Delicious Baby for creating and coordinating Photo Friday to link travel photos and blog posts across the Web.
© Dominique King 2012 All rights reserved
Great photos! I love capturing shots from above, always checking out the rooftop of parking structures. Recent got shots of the D off the Greektown Casino parking structure roof.
Posted by: Elatlboy | April 28, 2012 at 05:47 AM
Tim told me about this spot some time ago, and the last time I was down there with him in that structure, they had that top floor closed for repairs.
I'll bet that casino rooftop was a good place to take photos! We've been up on the top floor of the Cobo structure on a dreary winter day in the past, but I didn't get anything awe-inspiring that day.
Posted by: Dominique King | April 28, 2012 at 05:57 AM
Very cool perspective and how fun to visit your old stomping grounds.
Posted by: Lucia | May 03, 2012 at 09:32 PM
Lucia-I'm fortunate in that I was a commuter student and still live within fifteen miles of campus :)
Posted by: Dominique King | May 04, 2012 at 04:26 AM
Great shots - Old Main is a beautiful building!
Posted by: Lisa Goodmurphy | May 04, 2012 at 09:27 AM
Thanks Lisa! Old Main looked pretty pitiful when I went to Wayne, but they did a lot of work on it in recent years and it does look great now! Best view I've seen of it is from this vantage point atop the parking garage.
Posted by: Dominique King | May 06, 2012 at 04:33 PM
Are any of these architecturally significant buildings endangered? I've seen so many videos of amazing buildings in the area slipping into disrepair, which leads to downward cycle ending in abandonment. I'm stunned by what has been lost in the area but I hope it stops, and turns around.
Posted by: Douglas | February 14, 2016 at 12:40 PM
Buildings on Wayne State's campus are pretty much in good repair. The campus has drawn a lot more residential students in recent years...a lot more than when I went to school there several decades ago...so there is a bit more activity on campus as well these days. Campus police are pretty visible, and residents around campus call them first...so there are a lot fewer problems in the area than in Detroit in general. You might want to pick up the recent book Yamasaki in Detroit by John Gallagher to see some recent photos and stories about some of the buildings on WSU's campus and other places around town. I'll stick a link to the book in the article above :)
Posted by: Dominique King | February 14, 2016 at 10:05 PM