Albert Kahn (March 21, 1869 in Rhaunen, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany – December 8, 1942 in Detroit, Michigan, USA) was the foremost American industrial architect of his day. He is sometimes called, the architect of Detroit.
Kahn came to Detroit in 1880 at the age of 11. His father Joseph was trained as a rabbi. His mother Rosalie had a talent for the visual arts and music. As a teenager he got a job at the architectural firm of Mason and Rice. K...
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Albert Kahn (March 21, 1869 in Rhaunen, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany – December 8, 1942 in Detroit, Michigan, USA) was the foremost American industrial architect of his day. He is sometimes called, the architect of Detroit.
Kahn came to Detroit in 1880 at the age of 11. His father Joseph was trained as a rabbi. His mother Rosalie had a talent for the visual arts and music. As a teenager he got a job at the architectural firm of Mason and Rice. Kahn won a year's scholarship to study abroad in Europe, where he toured with another young architecture student, Henry Bacon, who would later design the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
The architectural firm Albert Kahn Associates was founded in 1895. He developed a new style of construction where reinforced concrete replaced wood in factory walls, roofs, and supports. This gave better fire protection and allowed large volumes of unobstructed interior. Packard Motor Car Company's factory built in 1907 was the first development of this...
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