AIA Detroit: The American Institute of Architects Guide to Detroit Architecture

With its sleek look and easy-to-use layout, this delightful guide to Detroit architecture provides a fresh, in-depth look at the city of Detroit itself as well as a number of distinctive environments outside the city proper. Its 369 entries and more than 400 photographs―many by renowned architectural photographer Balthazar Korab, who served as principal photographer for the project―show off Detroit’s significant architectural history.

Like its predecessor, Detroit Architecture: AIA Guide, also published by Wayne State University Press (1971 and 1980), AIA Detroit is an authoritative yet highly readable account of a wide range of structures and urban spaces. It features a host of buildings―two-thirds of which are listed on local, state, and/or national registers of historical buildings―and also recognizes a handful of bridges, monuments, fountains, parks, cemeteries, neighborhoods, and specialty districts that are architecturally and stylistically notable.

Organized as a series of walking (or driving) tours beginning with the Downtown area, the guide moves north, west, and east to explore the city’s many districts and neighborhoods, and then takes a look at the special environments of the Grosse Pointe Lakeshore, the Cranbrook educational community, the GM Technical Center, and Ford’s Dearborn. Photographs of each site and numerous useful maps throughout help readers visualize the locales. AIA Detroit serves as a much-needed tool in uncovering and navigating the city’s rich architectural heritage for citizens, tourists, and architecture students alike.