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Albert Kahn
- Wayne State University Press
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Albert Kahn 1869-1942 "Kahn, thanks largely to his Ford work, is regarded as the greatest industrial architect who ever lived." —David L. Lewis* A an industrial architect, Albert Kahn consistently pleased Henry Ford, was in Ford's employ for many years, and thus is considered one of Henry's lieutenants. And despite what Ford may have allowed to be said in his Dearborn Independent about Jews in general, Ford and Kahn were very good friends. Now, long after Ford's death, Albert Kahn Associates, Inc., of Detroit continues to please Ford Motor Company with the buildings it designs. Albert Kahn was born in Rhaunen, Westphalia, Germany, on March 21, 1869. His father was Joseph, and his mother was Rosalie Cohn Kahn. Albert's father was a rabbi and teacher. Albert was the eldest of six children and spent his childhood in the schools of the grand duchy of Luxembourg. In 1880, the father sought a better life in the United States and immigrated to Detroit, where the family had relatives. Both Rosalie and Joseph worked at odd jobs to earn a living for the family, while the children—now eight of them—attended public schools. Kahn's first employment in Detroit was with the architectural firm of Albert Scott. Meanwhile, a friend, Julius Melchers, found him a position in 1885 as office boy for George D. Mason of the prominent firm of Mason and Rice. Kahn soon became a draftsman for Mason, who had a fine reputation for designing homes for prominent Detroiters. In 1891, at age twenty-two, Kahn was awarded a scholarship to study abroad, traveling and sketching scenes through Europe. Following his European experience, Kahn joined George W. Nettleton and Alexander Trowbridge to form the Nettleton, Kahn, and Trowbridge architectural firm. In 1896, Kahn married Ernestine Krolik, a daughter of a prosperous Detroit dry goods merchant. When Nettleton died, Kahn went back to work with Mason until 1902. During this period, he was helping his younger brother, Julius, *From David L. Lewis, "Ford and Kahn," Michigan History, September-October 1980. 139 Henry's Lieutenants earn bachelor of science and civil engineering degrees from the University of Michigan. As in Kahris case, it was not common for architects at that time to be college-trained. But he had envisioned the advantages of combining the artistic aspects of architecture with the science of engineering. In 1903, the two brothers began working together to produce architectural plans that provided both beauty and utility. Although Kahn designed beautiful residences such as the Edsel Ford home on Lakeshore Drive in Grosse Pointe and the grand commercial edifices such as the General Motors and Fisher buildings in Detroit, his most important contribution to architecture is likely the combination of beauty and utility demonstrated in his industrial designs. In 1900, Kahn had designed a rather conventional factory for the Boyer Machine Company in Detroit. Together, in 1903, Albert and Julius Kahn designed the University of Michigan Engineering Building. The extensive use of reinforced concrete, steel, and glass in industrial structures was first demonstrated by Kahn in a group of Detroit factory buildings for the Packard Motor Company Car Company beginning in 1905. By this time, Henry Ford was taking note of the style of factory building exemplified by Kahn—the well-lighted, well-ventilated structure of steel, reinforced concrete, and glass with a minimum of brick. By 1907, Ford had outgrown his plant on Piquette Avenue in Detroit because of the unexpected popularity of his Model N automobile. He had now designed the new Model T, which had still better prospects. He needed to build a much larger factory. Ford sought land for a more expansive site in Detroit's suburb of Highland Park. He had visions of a factory layout all under one roof, eliminating the cartage of various chassis components and bodies from their separate manufacturing sites to an assembly building. The manufacturing and assembly operations would be together in one huge building. Kahn was the architect who best understood and favored Ford's concept . So it was Kahn, together with his associate Ernest Wilby, who designed Ford's Highland Park plant, the largest automotive plant of its day—the main plant of Ford Motor Company for nearly twenty years and the entire life of the Model T. Kahn worked closely with Ford engineers William B. Mayo and Edward Gray in designing a powerhouse that was the chief landmark on Detroit's main thoroughfare of Woodward Avenue. Ford's Highland Park...