The Beauty of Detroit - The Guardian Building

There is not a city in the world that is talked about as badly as Detroit. It's the Ishtar of Cities, the Tonya Harding of Cities, the Crocs of Cities. 

There's been a huge drive, among rich people & hipsters alike, to turn around the rep of Detroit. They write books, talk about commerce & art, blah blah blah. I'm not going to try to do that today. I'm not here to CONVINCE YOU. I'm just going to SHOW YOU what a GEM we have here in this pile of "absolute shit" that everyone loves to rag on. 

I'm going to give you a photo tour of one of the most beautiful buildings in Detroit, that IS ACTUALLY AT 85% occupancy! SEE EVERYTHING IS NOT ABANDONED HERE!

The Guardian Building (built in 1929)

First here is the streetscape of Detroit... 

ha ha, just kidding, here it is (below)

SEE!! it's not just rotted out factories & random homes serving Soul Food (which I love) that Anthony Bourdain showed on his show (you can see that here)
There are actual STREETS that are CLEAN with PEOPLE and legit BUSINESSES.

The company Pure Detroit (click here for their website) is putting on tours of some of the beautiful Detroit architecture spots & operates stores out of 3 AWESOME gorgeous Detroit buildings:

• The Guardian 
• The Fisher (which we are touring next week)
• and The Renaissance Center

 M & I jumped at the chance to hear about the history of the Guardian building. Espesh since we are in the middle of a MULTI-YEAR renovation of our own 1920s house that looked like THIS:

when we moved in. Yeah, not proper toilet locale.

The Guardian Building is BAD ASS. On the outside there is just a *smidgen* of 1920s art deco tile work, so you can't really tell that when you enter it, it will look like THIS! HOLY CRAP!

 are you kidding me? The mural and all the tilework is just so breath-taking. It was called the "Cathedral of Finance" and rightly so. You just want to pray to the gods of architecture and artisan handiwork for making this so unbelievable.

i wish they made buildings like this today. But it seems that our building trades are more obsessed with cost-effectiveness and deadlines than making something that will be beautiful and impact society for all time.

It does have a very Native American feel. I wonder what was the motivation behind that. Maybe the history that Detroit has with being attacked incessantly in it's infancy by Chief Pontiac? If so, i think that is very respectful. I like that.

The blue glass blocks in the archways hide massive glass windows that made this room into an oven in the summer time. In the 1950s they were installed. And even though I would love to say that they should have left it be, I think they look fantastic.

I told myself not to over-edit these photos much, but I just couldn't resist.

 It's funny because many people in the Metro Detroit area just go to Chicago when they want a taste of "City Life" because there is an enigma that surrounds Detroit and taints it as somewhere bad and evil and criminal. I bet there are thousands of people that live within 20 minutes of this building that never knew that such beauty was right here in their own backyard.

 This clock is an original "Tiffany Glass". Of course someone on the tour callously asked if a dollar amount had been placed on the value of that clock. What a douche. THE ANSWER IS PRICELESS, JERKFACE!

I'm trying to think of buildings that have been built in this decade that people consider beautiful. I can't think of any. But I'm sure they do exist, but do not have this attention to detail and intricacy in the decor. That is something that is left to a bygone era, sadly.

This ceiling is just so OUT OF CONTROL gorgeous I don't even have words.

 The marble surrounding the arched glass window is from a mine in Belgium. The architect of the Guardian building, Wirt C. Rowland saw this particular marble in a building in Rome and decided he NEEDED THAT EXACT MARBLE. The mine had been closed for decades, but they opened the mine just for him to get this marble, and then closed it again. Sealing that precious rock forever.

Detail like this (below) is so fun, and I love the idea of *principles*.
"Let's give this building a FREAKING PURPOSE and it shall live on that way till the END OF TIME."

 Here is the elevator alley. The idea of never forgetting any facet of a building is so great. Just think of the last time you were in a big building and used the elevator. I bet you a MILLION DOLLARS that that little hallway had a drop foamy ceiling and some ugly-ass walls.

Interesting colors to use. The coral and the turquoise. I can't help but think Southwestern US when I see these together.

Another shot of the lobby ceiling. The moment I came home from the Guardian, I started googling, "how to inlay tile into your floor." I'm going to try to do something like this in my kitchen. Sadly, it will never look this good and be awful and ghetto compared.

 Even the light fixtures are gorgeous. I wish I could get these for my house. Apparently the metal that all of these gorgeous things were forged out of is "Monel Metal" the technology of which to fabricate was obviously given to us by the Ancient Aliens.

This gate is also made of the Monel Metal. Are you SERIOUS!!? This is so beautiful. I can't stand it.

So let's pause the next time we speak badly about the city of Detroit. Although I love the instant street-cred I receive when I travel and tell people I'm from here, so let's let some of that aura be.

NEXT WEEKS TOUR: THE FISHER BUILDING!! WOOT!