SEPTEMBER 23 • 2021 | 21
OUR COMMUNITY
T
he Albert Kahn
Legacy Foundation
has created its initial
exhibit celebrating the work
of Albert Kahn, the world’s
foremost industrial architect
of the first half of the 20th
century. Titled “Albert Kahn:
Creating the Modern World,”
it is on public display at the
Fisher Building in Detroit
through Sept. 30. While the
Fisher Building is probably
his most admired local struc-
ture, Kahn’s firm designed
and engineered approximately
20,000 projects throughout
his lifetime.
These included hundreds
of projects for the Ford Motor
Company including the Ford
Plant in Highland Park and
the Rouge Complex. Kahn
and his brother, Julius, an
engineer, created open, light-
filled factories that were more
comfortable for workers and
more efficient than other
manufacturing facilities of the
early 20th century.
But the scope of his work
extended beyond indus-
trial buildings. Locally,
many of Kahn’s build-
ing are well known:
Temple Beth El, built
on Woodward near Mack
in 1905; Hill Auditorium
and other buildings on the
University of Michigan cam-
pus; the Detroit Athletic Club;
and the Edsel Ford House.
Kahn was a first-generation
German Jew whose formal
education ended at the sev-
enth grade. He was a self-
taught artist and draftsman
who apprenticed at a Detroit
architectural firm where he
quickly mastered the field.
Kahn, who lived from
1869-1942, has several
descendants in the Detroit
area. His oldest child, the
late Lydia Winston Malbin,
was an internationally rec-
ognized collector of con-
temporary art. According
to one local relative, Kahn
often took Malbin’s daughter,
Sarah (Sally) Robinson, for
Sunday drives around Detroit
while listening to the opera.
Robinson, 96, who lives in
Vermont and Florida, is an
artist and her late husband
was an architect.
There are no Kahn descen-
dants currently working at
Albert Kahn Associates Inc.,
which has its headquarters in
the Fisher Building. However,
one great-grandson is on the
board of the Albert Kahn
Legacy Foundation, which
was established last year to
honor Kahn for his innova-
tions and global impact.
The current exhibit is
part of the Detroit Month of
Design program — a citywide
event that celebrates Detroit’s
role as a UNESCO City of
Design. The Kahn Legacy
Foundation is developing a
larger exhibit for the Detroit
Historical Museum next year.
For more information, visit
AlbertKahnLegacy.org.
New Exhibit
Celebrates Albert
Kahn’s Life and
Accomplishments
SHARI S. COHEN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
LEFT TO RIGHT: Albert Kahn’s legacy includes such innovative buildings as the Ford River Rouge Glass
Plant, 1923. (From The Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of the Ford Motor Company). Hill Auditorium,
University of Michigan 1913. (Courtesy of Michael G. Smith). Chrysler Corporation’s Dodge Half-Ton Truck
Plant Export Building, 1938. (Albert Kahn Associates).
THE ALBERT KAHN LEGACY
FOUNDATION. DESIGNER: ERIC KELLER
Detroit Athletic Club, 1915
Temple Beth
El, Detroit,
1903
Benzinga Founder
Wins Award
Ernst & Young LLP named
CEO Jason Raznick of Benzinga
an Entrepreneur of the Year
2021 Michigan and Northwest
Ohio Award winner. The award
recognizes entrepreneurial leaders
excelling in talent management;
degree of difficulty; financial
performance; societal impact and
building a values-based company;
and originality, innovation and
future plans. Raznick was selected
by an independent panel of judges,
and the award was announced
during the program’s virtual
awards gala on Aug. 5.
“Benzinga was founded with the
mission to democratize financial
news,
” Raznick said. “For too
long, Wall Street has had an unfair
advantage over main street by
accessing data and information
before smaller investors.
Benzinga’s core mission is to
bring easier-to-consume news to
retail traders, in order to even the
playing field between main street
and Wall Street. While it is a great
honor to be announced as an EY
Entrepreneur of the Year winner,
this is not an individual award, but
a team award and a testament to
all of the hard work by our team
members.
”
Benzinga, a financial media
and technology company that
empowers individual investors,
was recognized as one of the
fastest-growing companies in the
United States in the Inc. 5000,
a list of 5,000 emerging private
companies in the U.S. This marks
the first time that Benzinga, one of
just 80 Michigan-based companies
to appear on the list, has been
featured.
Jason
Raznick