AT&T Michigan Headquarters
Encyclopedia
The AT&T Michigan Headquarters is a complex of skyscrapers and buildings located at 1st Street, Cass Avenue, State Street, and Michigan Avenue in Detroit, Michigan
, United States
. It contains the AT&T Building, the AT&T Building addition, the Maintenance Shop and is owned by communication
s giant AT&T
.
The AT&T Building (formerly known as the SBC Building and the Michigan Bell Building) in downtown Detroit is a skyscraper, built in 1912 for the Michigan Bell
Telephone Company and expanded in 1927. It is located at 1365 Cass Avenue, and occupies the block bordered by First Street, Cass Avenue, State Street, and Michigan Avenue
. The AT&T Building stands 19 stories tall. The structure completed in 1912 was 7 stories and was designed to accommodate additional floors as needed. In 1927, 12 stories were added. Several horizontal bands of limestone mark the top of the original structure.
The high-rise building is used as the Michigan
headquarters
for communication
s giant AT&T
. It is designed in the Art Deco
and Art moderne architectural styles
, using tan brick
and limestone
for the facade. Windows are grouped in twos divided by brick piers and have bronze spandrel
panels below depicting lightning bolts, bells and other symbols related to communication. Windows on floors 17 through 19 are recessed and framed by large arches. The facade is finished by limestone ballustrade and copper mansard roof.
Smith Hinchman & Grylls were the architects for the original 7 story building, with work done by Pontiac Construction, and for the 12 additional floors added in 1927 by the H. G. Christman-Burke Company. The maintenance shop is a nine-story structure was added in 1950 to the west of the original building facing First Street and State Streets. It is faced with tan brick with pink granite covering the lower two floors.
The AT&T Building Addition stands at 444 Michigan Avenue
in downtown Detroit and occupies the site south of the earlier building. It was constructed in 1973 and finished the following year. The skyscraper office building stands at 17 stories, and houses office space
and telecommunications equipment and was designed in the modern
architectural style. It was faced with weathering steel, bronze-tinted glass and granite
. Like the earlier building, it is designed to accommodate additional floors when the need arises.
In subsequent alterations, the weathering steel was painted and a portico added at the Michigan Avenue entrance. The addition was also designed by the architecture firm of Smith Hinchman & Grylls.
When the addition was completed, Young Woman and Her Suitors (Jeune fille et sa suite) by sculptor Alexander Calder
was installed at the corner of Michigan and Cass Avenues. In 2006, the sculpture was removed for conservation and in October 2007, the communications company donated it to the Detroit Institute of Arts
. It was installed in its new location in May 2008.
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It contains the AT&T Building, the AT&T Building addition, the Maintenance Shop and is owned by communication
Telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information over significant distances to communicate. In earlier times, telecommunications involved the use of visual signals, such as beacons, smoke signals, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs, or audio messages via coded...
s giant AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
.
Architecture
Michigan Bell
Michigan Bell is the subsidiary of AT&T serving the state of Michigan. Following the Bell System divestiture on January 8, 1982, the company became a subsidiary of Ameritech, the Regional Bell operating company that served the midwestern United States...
Telephone Company and expanded in 1927. It is located at 1365 Cass Avenue, and occupies the block bordered by First Street, Cass Avenue, State Street, and Michigan Avenue
Michigan Avenue
Michigan Avenue may refer to:* Michigan Avenue * Michigan Avenue , a designation for much of both current and former U.S. Route 12 in Michigan...
. The AT&T Building stands 19 stories tall. The structure completed in 1912 was 7 stories and was designed to accommodate additional floors as needed. In 1927, 12 stories were added. Several horizontal bands of limestone mark the top of the original structure.
The high-rise building is used as the Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
headquarters
Headquarters
Headquarters denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top of a corporation taking full responsibility managing all business activities...
for communication
Telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information over significant distances to communicate. In earlier times, telecommunications involved the use of visual signals, such as beacons, smoke signals, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs, or audio messages via coded...
s giant AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
. It is designed in the Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
and Art moderne architectural styles
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
, using tan brick
Brick
A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...
and limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
for the facade. Windows are grouped in twos divided by brick piers and have bronze spandrel
Spandrel
A spandrel, less often spandril or splaundrel, is the space between two arches or between an arch and a rectangular enclosure....
panels below depicting lightning bolts, bells and other symbols related to communication. Windows on floors 17 through 19 are recessed and framed by large arches. The facade is finished by limestone ballustrade and copper mansard roof.
Smith Hinchman & Grylls were the architects for the original 7 story building, with work done by Pontiac Construction, and for the 12 additional floors added in 1927 by the H. G. Christman-Burke Company. The maintenance shop is a nine-story structure was added in 1950 to the west of the original building facing First Street and State Streets. It is faced with tan brick with pink granite covering the lower two floors.
The AT&T Building Addition stands at 444 Michigan Avenue
Michigan Avenue
Michigan Avenue may refer to:* Michigan Avenue * Michigan Avenue , a designation for much of both current and former U.S. Route 12 in Michigan...
in downtown Detroit and occupies the site south of the earlier building. It was constructed in 1973 and finished the following year. The skyscraper office building stands at 17 stories, and houses office space
Office Space
Office Space is a 1999 American comedy film satirizing work life in a typical 1990s software company. Written and directed by Mike Judge, it focuses on a handful of individuals fed up with their jobs portrayed by Ron Livingston, Jennifer Aniston, Gary Cole, David Herman, Ajay Naidu, and Diedrich...
and telecommunications equipment and was designed in the modern
Modern architecture
Modern architecture is generally characterized by simplification of form and creation of ornament from the structure and theme of the building. It is a term applied to an overarching movement, with its exact definition and scope varying widely...
architectural style. It was faced with weathering steel, bronze-tinted glass and granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
. Like the earlier building, it is designed to accommodate additional floors when the need arises.
In subsequent alterations, the weathering steel was painted and a portico added at the Michigan Avenue entrance. The addition was also designed by the architecture firm of Smith Hinchman & Grylls.
When the addition was completed, Young Woman and Her Suitors (Jeune fille et sa suite) by sculptor Alexander Calder
Alexander Calder
Alexander Calder was an American sculptor and artist most famous for inventing mobile sculptures. In addition to mobile and stable sculpture, Alexander Calder also created paintings, lithographs, toys, tapestry, jewelry and household objects.-Childhood:Alexander "Sandy" Calder was born in Lawnton,...
was installed at the corner of Michigan and Cass Avenues. In 2006, the sculpture was removed for conservation and in October 2007, the communications company donated it to the Detroit Institute of Arts
Detroit Institute of Arts
The Detroit Institute of Arts is a renowned art museum in the city of Detroit. In 2003, the DIA ranked as the second largest municipally owned museum in the United States, with an art collection valued at more than one billion dollars...
. It was installed in its new location in May 2008.