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Madison Minch

Dr. Aaron Martin

HON 1000

9 November, 2016

Fisher Building: Where Are We Going?

The Fisher Building is a prominent feature in the Detroit skyline. The exterior of the

building is relatively simple, appearing as a basic skyscraper with straight marble walls and little

to no embellishments. The interior, however, is another matter. It is decked out with over one

hundred statues and painted ceilings. The vastly different designs between the inside and outside

of the building make it difficult to determine what the building is trying to tell us. It is my

opinion that the building tells its viewers not where the city is going but where it has already

been.

The building was erected in 1928 by the seven Fisher brothers, Frederick, Charles,

William, Lawrence, Edward, Alfred, and Howard, who were raised by carriage makers in Ohio.

They eventually took over the family business and came to Detroit in 1908 to establish the Fisher

Body Co. which made closed body chassis for Cadillac. They continued their work for almost

two decades until GM bought the company for $208 million, over $2 billion in todays revenue

(Austin 2015). The plans to build the new headquarters for Fisher Body Co. were originally to

build three towers, one 60 story building flanked by two smaller towers, and to begin

construction in 1931. The date was moved up in the face of the Great Depression and

construction actually began in 1928. The original plan was changed again once the depression

finally hit and the brothers could only afford to build one tower, which is why the building we

see today is asymmetrical as it was meant to have a twin to flank a taller building in the middle
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(Mirel 2001). The theater was changed as well, originally boasting a Mayan temple theme which

was later exchanged for its current 1950s modern look.

In order to interpret the Fisher Building as an answer to the question, Where are we

going? we must take into account the physical appearance of the building as well as its

significant history and construction. The outside of the building is basic and plain, the only wow

factors being its height and green terra cotta cap. As Dean Herron pointed out in his lectures,

anyone from anywhere is going to be able to look at a tall building and appreciate its enormity. It

is completely unlike the buildings found in European cities which are usually low to the ground

and decorated with sculptures and carvings. So it can be inferred that the outside of the building
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is telling us that we are going to the new world. We are leaving behind the great European cities

of the past and replacing them with the city we saw in GMs Futurama exhibit. The inside of the

building, however, is the polar opposite of the exterior. It has carvings and statues at every turn

and there is even a plaque placed into the floor that has been roped off to prevent any more

damage from being walked upon (the figures on the plaque are now almost completely faded

away from wear over the years). If the outside of the building says that we are going to the

future, the interior screams that we are actually returning to the European cities that we had

previously decided were not mean for America (Herron).

After speaking with my group after visiting the site for ourselves, I discovered that I held

a different opinion than the rest of my group. They all thought of the history of the building as a

failure since the original plan was never completed and the building is incohesive (Discussion).

While it is true that the plans for the building were altered, it was only to accommodate the

situation of the time. The ingenuity shown by finishing the building at all during the Great

Depression is an accurate representation of the citys resilience and is the reason that I personally

believe that the Fisher building is a great representation of Detroit.

While it is difficult to discern one clear answer to the question, Where are we going?

from this particular site, it is my opinion that the answer would be We are going to a better

version of Detroit. The Fisher Buildings exterior represents the city of the future while the

inside represents the city of the past. It is a beautiful representation of moving forward while

hanging on to our roots. The entire city of Detroit is focused on moving forward and out of the

recent depression that bankrupted the city. But the citizens of this city are still desperately

hanging on to the notion that Detroiters are strong, gritty, tough people who always find a way to

persevere even in the worst of situations. Detroiters may appear to others as broken by the
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economy, much like the Fisher Building appears incomplete to the rest of my group, but, in truth,

Detroit is coming back and her citizens are coming with her.
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Works Cited

Highlights of Detroit History in Miniature; a Series of Models First Displayed at the Opening of

the Fisher Building Branch, October 22nd, 1928. Detroit: First National Bank, 1928.

Print.

Parenthetical: (Highlights of Detroit 1928)

Mirel, Diana. "Art in the Motor City: The Fisher Building Is an Architectural Treasure Defining

the Detroit Skyline." Journal of Property Management (2001): n. pag. Web.

Parenthetical: (Mirel 2001)

Fisher Theater. 1928. Interiors of Old Theaters, Digital Collections, Detroit.

Parenthetical (Photo 1928)

Martelle, Scott. Detroit: A Biography. Chicago, IL: Chicago Review, 2012. Print.

Parenthetical: (Martelle 2012)

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1991. Print.

Parenthetical: (Fitzgerald 1991)

Austin, Dan. "10 Fascinating Facts About Detroit's Fisher Building." Detroit Free Press. N.p., 1

Sept. 2015. Web. 31 Oct. 2016.

Parenthetical: (Austin 2015)

Cohen. "Encountering Mass Culture." N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Print.

Parenthetical: (Cohen)

Boyle, Kevin. Arc of Justice. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.

Parenthetical: (Boyle)

In-Class Discussion. 2 November, 2016.

Parenthetical: (Discussion)
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Herron, Jerry. Various Lectures from the Fall Semester 2016 at Wayne State University

Parenthetical: (Herron)