General Motors Technical Center at 68: History and Preservation
Docomomo US "Corporate Campuses" Tour Day 2024
Saturday, October 19, at 10:00am
Cranbrook Art Museum, deSalle Auditorium
Virtual via Zoom
$25 for Adults; $10 for Full-time Students
Free for Cranbrook Students (register by emailing center@cranbrook.edu)
Presented by Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research and Docomomo US/Michigan in collaboration with the General Motors Design Archive & Special Collections as part of Docomomo US "Corporate Campuses" Tour Day 2024
ABOUT THE PROGRAM AT CRANBROOK
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 Warren, the complex was the first major project by celebrated Finnish American architect Eero Saarinen (1910-1961). Eero's design of the GM Technical Center was meticulously planned and crafted as a total work of art, much like Cranbrook's campus where he grew up and started his career at the side of his father, Eliel Saarinen. Eero's collaborators on the GM project included many of the era's most celebrated artists and designers, including Harry Bertoia, Alexander Calder, Alexander Girard, Maija Grotell, Florence Knoll, Ruth Adler Schnee, and Marianne Strengell.
For more information on the Docomomo Tour Day 2024 program at Cranbrook, including the morning in-person and virtual lectures as well as the afternoon Eero Saarinen-focused tours, please visit the Center’s General Motors Technical Center at 68 webpage.
PROGRAM
- Welcome and Introductions (Gregory Wittkopp, Director, Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research, and Deborah Kawsky, President, Docomomo US/Michigan)
- "Eero Saarinen: Before and After GM" (Kevin Adkisson, Curator, Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research)
- "General Motors Technical Center at 68: History and Future" (Natalie Morath, Lead Archivist and Curator, GM Design Archive & Special Collections)
- "Calder Fountain 'Water Ballet' Overview" (Ron Rader, Manager, DFO Capital Projects, GM Design)
- "Cadillac House: Transforming the Central Restaurant" (Andrew Barton, Lead Creative Designer, GM Design Architecture & Experience Studio)
Photo Credits (From Top to Bottom)
Header photo: General Motors Technical Center, Styling (Design) Administration Building, Lobby. Photography by James Haefner; Courtesy General Motors Design Archive & Special Collections.
General Motors Technical Center, Research Administration Building, Central Staircase. Photography by James Haefner. Courtesy General Motors Design Archive & Special Collections.