46 | DECEMBER 31 • 2020 

Looking Back

A Master Architect
B

efore the year ends, there is one more 
anniversary to acknowledge. In 2020, 
Albert Kahn Associates Inc. has cel-
ebrated its 125th year anniversary. Its name-
sake, founder and Jewish Detroiter Albert 
Kahn, was an innovator and 
the world’s foremost industrial 
designer and architect of the 
20th century.
Kahn’s impact upon Detroit 
is visible and all around us. 
Drive around Detroit and you 
will find hundreds — yes, hun-
dreds — of Kahn Associates 
buildings. For example, start 
at Belle Isle and see the Kahn-designed 
aquarium (1904), the first aquarium in 
America. In the New Center area you will 
see “Detroit’s Largest Art Object,” the city’s 
iconic art-deco Kahn masterpiece, the Fisher 
Building (1928). Downtown, see the presti-
gious Detroit Athletic Club (1915). 
Sidenote — when Kahn designed the 
Athletic Club, Jews were not allowed to be 
members. Kahn was offered but declined a 
membership.
Travel west of Detroit to see other Kahn 
buildings. In Dearborn, see the Ford Motor 
Company’s massive River Rouge industrial 
complex. When completed, it was the larg-
est in the world (1917-1928). Further west, 
in Ann Arbor, you could attend a concert 
at the beautiful Hill Auditorium at the 
University of Michigan (1913), one of sever-
al Kahn structures on its campus.
Sidenote — despite Henry Ford I’s 
antisemitism, Kahn was the chief architect 
for the Ford Motor Company during his 
lifetime.
Kahn represented a classic tale of immi-
grant success in the United States. Born in 
Germany in 1869, Kahn was the oldest son 
of a rabbi. The family migrated to America 
in 1881, and soon after, to Detroit. Kahn 
left school in the seventh grade to find work 
and support his family. After working in 
odd jobs, he was hired as an errand boy at 
the architecture firm of Mason & Rice. In 

1895, Kahn struck-out on his own as 
an architect. By 1920, his firm had 
400 employees. Before his death in 
1942, Kahn transformed his com-
pany into the employee-owned 
firm it is today.
Albert Kahn and Kahn 
Associates are often cited in the 
William Davidson Digital Archive 
of Jewish Detroit History over the 
past century, on 1,148 pages of 
the Detroit Jewish Chronicle and 
JN. Kahn is first mentioned in 
the Chronicle on April 14, 1916, 
on a list that shows his $1,000 
contribution toward the relief 
of Jews in Europe during WWI. 
The front-page story in 
the Nov. 2, 1917, issue 
of the Chronicle cites his 
presentation of plans for a 
new Temple Beth El, which 
opened in 1922. On Dec. 
11, 1942, his death was front 
page news for the Chronicle
and for a feature story and 
editorial in the JN. In short, 
the Davidson Archive holds 
many stories about Kahn 
and Kahn buildings, as well 
as books and exhibits about 
Kahn. He continues to be a 
subject of current interest.
Only a few other elite 
designers and architects have made a mark 
on the landscape of America and the world 
like that of Albert Kahn. If you live any-
where in Metro Detroit, you are only a few 
minutes away from a Kahn building, a vis-
ible reminder of the work of a great Jewish 
Detroiter.
BTW — there is a new Albert Kahn 
Legacy Foundation, established to honor 
Kahn’s life, work, and lasting influence. Go 
to albertkahnlegacy.org for details. 

Want to learn more? Go to the DJN Foundation 
archives, available for free at www.djnfoundation.org.

Mike Smith
Alene and 
Graham Landau 
Archivist Chair

1895, Kahn struck-out on his own as 
an architect. By 1920, his firm had 
400 employees. Before his death in 
1942, Kahn transformed his com-

William Davidson Digital Archive 
of Jewish Detroit History over the 

From the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History

accessible at www.djnfoundation.org

of Jews in Europe during WWI. 

11, 1942, his death was front 

