20 | JUNE 9 • 2022 

OUR COMMUNITY

D

etroiters live among the diverse 
and innovative buildings created 
by Albert Kahn Inc. (now Albert 
Kahn Associates) during the first half of 
the 20th century. The Fisher Building, Ford 
Motor Company’s Highland Park Plant, the 
Belle Isle Aquarium and Temple Beth El in 
Detroit are a few examples. The Albert Kahn 
Legacy Foundation was created in 2021 to 
honor, educate and preserve Kahn’s legacy 
as America’s foremost industrial designer 
during the first half of the 20th century.
Last year, the Albert Kahn Legacy 
Foundation, composed of some staff mem-
bers of Albert Kahn Associates and other 
interested local residents, created a small 
pop-up exhibit about the architect’s life 
and work that was displayed in the Fisher 
Building. But the intent was always to 
produce something more substantive and 
permanent. 
Eighteen months later, a group of vol-
unteers completed a new, comprehensive 
exhibit, guided by Detroit Historical 
Museum staff and sponsored by the Edward 
and Linda Dresner Levy Foundation. Albert 
Kahn: Innovations & Influence On 20th 
Century Architecture will be on display at 
the Detroit Historical Museum through 
July 3.

A well-attended opening reception on 
April 28 included several descendants of 
Albert Kahn and featured speakers from 
the Foundation board, including Heidi 
Pfammes, president; Levi Smith, vice presi-
dent; and Barbara Cohn, event chair, who is 
also a trustee. 
The exhibit includes 
extensive blueprints, 
photos, illustrations 
and models of build-
ings designed by 
Albert Kahn Inc., 
as well as some of his own drawings and 
family photographs. All of these displays, 
accompanied by explanatory text, portray 
the amazing life and career of a German 
Jewish immigrant whose formal education 

ended at the seventh grade because he 
needed to work and help support his large 
family. 
According to Michael G. Smith, an archi-
tectural historian and author who is also 
an Albert Kahn Legacy Foundation trustee, 
the Kahn family left Germany because 
Jews were being attacked and 
their citizenship was 
threatened. The Kahn 
family, who immigrated 
to Detroit in 1881, was 
educated, and Albert 
Kahn spoke four languages including 
Yiddish, Smith explains. His father was a 
Reform rabbi. (Albert Kahn later became 
a board member of Temple Beth El and 
chaired its Choir Committee.)

Detroit’s foremost 
architect is featured in 
new museum exhibit.

Albert Kahn’s

SHARI S. COHEN 
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

DETAILS
The Albert Kahn: Innovation & Influence On 20th Century Architecture exhibit 
will be at the Detroit Historical Museum through July 3. For more information, 
visit albertkahnlegacy.org or detroithistorical.org/detroit-historical-museum/
exhibitions/special-exhibitions. Eric Keller, a graphic designer and illustrator, 
designed the exhibit and Jim Garrett, a local programmer, constructed the 
LEGO models of Kahn buildings. Local film editor Stuart Shevin assembled the 
drone footage taken above the Fisher Building that is featured in the exhibit.

continued on page 22

Legacy

A LEGO 
model of 
the Fisher 
Building

