American Institute of Architects Spurns Detroit
Recently the blank" >target="_blank" >glossary/american-institute-of-architects/" class="glossaryLink" data-cmtooltip="e7ccfdb6ed4a0fa2a1e3aa60a1d71759" target="_blank" >American Institute of Architects (AIA) released a listing of the most important 150 buildings built in the 150 years since the organization was founded.
http://www.favoritearchitecture.org/
From the list only one building in all of Michigan is included. The Cass Gilbert design for Battle Hall at the University of Texas is included, but not the Detroit Public Library which can be seen as a far superior refinement of this earlier design. Oodles of other Detroit buildings are given short shrift, including early designs by Yamasaki, Saarinen’s GM Tech Center, and downtown buildings too numerous to count including the Guardian Building, the Fox Theater, the Detroit Opera House, the Masonic Temple, and many, many others.
Perhaps this is a reflection of the fact that we in Michigan and Detroit have not organized well enough nor celebrated our buildings in such a way as to warrant national attention. Still, it would be nice for a reputable organization like the AIA to give Michigan and Detroit the attention which we so richly deserve.