GM Technical Center tour is SOLD OUT.

General Motors Technical Center, dedicated in 1956 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 2014, is an icon of midcentury design and the prototype of the modern American corporate campus. Located in the Detroit suburb of Warren, the complex was the first major project by celebrated Finnish American architect Eero Saarinen (1910 – 1961). This day-long reassessment of GM Technical Center’s history and its continued stewardship by General Motors will feature morning talks at Cranbrook Art Museum, afternoon tours of the Cranbrook campus, and Cranbrook Archives.  

Detroit was at the forefront of the urban renewal movement in the mid-20th century with projects like Lafayette Park and the Medical Center. These developments, however, were built on the bones of two once-thriving Black neighborhoods, Black Bottom and Paradise Valley. Led by Detroit historian Jamon Jordan, the tour will explore how urban renewal changed the buildings, landscapes, and people of Detroit.

Join the Michigan Chapter of Docomomo US and our friends at the Southfield Public Library and the Southfield Historical Society as we partner with Docomomo US for Tour Day 2022 to explore the history and future of shopping malls across the nation, including Michigan’s iconic Northland Center in Southfield.

The Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum at Saginaw Valley State University reopened to the public on April 10th with a new exhibition, “Michigan Modern: An Architectural Legacy,” on view through June 26, 2021. 

Join the Michigan Chapter of Docomomo US and Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research as they partner with Docomomo US for Tour Day 2020. The Michigan celebration of Tour Day 2020 will start at Bowlero Lanes & Lounge in Royal Oak, which has been authentically renovated by the current owners, Kelly and Dean Elliott, to capture the look and feel of the 1970s. Our Zoom screens will then move to Bloomfield Hills and the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Smith House.

While Detroit’s black architects have shaped its structures and spaces for decades, most are still largely unknown. Among these are Nathan Johnson, who designed churches, schools, public buildings and private residences in a variety of architectural styles, from midcentury modern to Googie. Join Docomomo Michigan as they explore this year’s Tour Day theme “The Diversity of Modernism” through visits to two of Johnson’s midcentury churches: Bethel AME (1974) and Second Baptist (addition built in 1968). 

Explore the past, present and future of Minoru Yamasaki's Reynolds and American Concrete Institute buildings, through tours and presentations by architectural historian Dale Gyure and Southfield, MI mayor Ken Siver.