22 | JUNE 9 • 2022 

When Albert Kahn joined 
Mason & Rice, a local archi-
tectural firm, as an errand boy, 
Kahn devoted 
himself to learning 
as much as possi-
ble from the firm’s 
employees and 
library. After nine 
months, the firm 
began to pay him 
to trace and draft drawings, and 
he was later promoted to head 

draftsman. In 1902, Kahn estab-
lished his own firm.

AN ARCHITECTURAL 
INNOVATOR
Early on, Kahn was an innova-
tor as an architectural designer, 
builder and businessman. He 
was instrumental in transform-
ing American factories from 
dark, cramped buildings to large, 
naturally lit facilities that pro-
vided better environments for 

workers and for more efficient 
production. This change was 
facilitated in part by the devel-
opment of a reinforced concrete 
bar and construction system by 
his brother, Julius. “This rein-
forced concrete was reasonably 
priced and replaced brick, steel 
and wood buildings previously 
used for factories,
” Smith says. 
Kahn also introduced an orga-
nizational structure that enabled 
his firm to handle a large vol-
ume of projects. He set up teams 
of architects and engineers, sim-
ilar to Ford’s production teams. 
While many Detroiters know 
that Kahn’s firm designed the 
Detroit Athletic Club, General 
Motors headquarters as well 
as many Ford manufacturing 
plants, they may not realize 
that Albert Kahn Inc. designed 
factories to produce Navy 
ships (1917) and for Detroit’s 
Arsenal of Democracy to sup-
port U.S. forces during World 
War II. In addition, the firm 
was hired by Russia in the 
1930s to design modern facto-
ries for the first Five-Year Plan 
of the Soviet Union. 

Closer to home, Albert Kahn 
Inc. designed many of the 
best-known buildings at the 
University of Michigan Ann 
Arbor campus, including Hill 
Auditorium. The firm is credited 
as being the first to use scientific 
principles of acoustics on a large 
scale, enabling sounds from the 
Hill stage to be heard through-
out the auditorium. 
The Albert Kahn Legacy 
Foundation is working on plans 
for future displays of the exhibit. 
“I hope people will see 
and learn about Kahn’s many 
innovations on 20th-centu-
ry architecture, and his broad 
range of architecture from res-
idential homes to industrial 
factories,” Barbara Cohn says. 
“Many people know about his 
development of modern indus-
trial architecture, but what is 
not known is the scope of his 
work and influence on the 
future of architecture. We hope 
people will connect to Kahn 
with the many stories we tell 
in the exhibit from successful 
immigrant to modernism to his 
global impact.” 

OUR COMMUNITY

Michael G. 
Smith

continued from page 20

MICHAEL G. SMITH

Albert Kahn's 
imprint is seen 
throughout 
Metropolitan 
Detroit.

Interior of 
the Fisher 
Building

Interior 
of Hill 
Auditorium, 
University 

of Michigan