Lurie Tower
Encyclopedia
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
in Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census places the population at 113,934, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 344,791 as of 2010...
and housing a grand carillon
Carillon
A carillon is a musical instrument that is typically housed in a free-standing bell tower, or the belfry of a church or other municipal building. The instrument consists of at least 23 cast bronze, cup-shaped bells, which are played serially to play a melody, or sounded together to play a chord...
-- one of only 23 in the world, but one of two on the Michigan campus -- was built in 1996 as a memorial for Michigan alumnus Robert H. Lurie
Ann & Robert H. Lurie
Robert H. Lurie graduated from University of Michigan with a BSE in Industrial and Operations Engineering in 1964 and a MSE in 1966. While studying at the University of Michigan, he and Sam Zell began a real-estate management company, which expanded into two large apartment and office property...
.
The Lurie Tower was designed by Michigan alumnus Charles Moore
Charles Willard Moore
Charles Willard Moore was an American architect, educator, writer, Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, and winner of the AIA Gold Medal in 1991.-Life and career:...
(AB '47, Hon Arch Ph.D. '92) and was dedicated in October 1996. A gift of the "Ann and Robert H. Lurie Family Foundation," it has 60 bells. Ann Lurie of Chicago donated $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
12 million in memory of her husband, Robert H. Lurie (BSE '64, MSE '66), to help fund the construction of North Campus buildings, including a bell tower
Bell tower
A bell tower is a tower which contains one or more bells, or which is designed to hold bells, even if it has none. In the European tradition, such a tower most commonly serves as part of a church and contains church bells. When attached to a city hall or other civic building, especially in...
. Completed in late 1995, the 167-foot (50.9 m) tall bell tower is a significant landmark on the evolving North Campus.
The bells of this grand carillon, which is lighter in weight than the Burton Tower
Burton Tower
The Burton Memorial Tower is a clock tower located on Central Campus at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor at 230 South Ingalls Street. Housing a grand carillon, the tower was built in 1936 as a memorial for University President Marion Leroy Burton...
's 55-bell carillon, are cast in bronze, in the customary proportion of 80 percent copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
to 20 percent tin
Tin
Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table. Tin shows chemical similarity to both neighboring group 14 elements, germanium and lead and has two possible oxidation states, +2 and the slightly more stable +4...
, at the Royal Eijsbouts bell foundry
Royal Eijsbouts bell foundry
Royal Eijsbouts is a bell foundry located in Asten, Netherlands.The workshop was founded in 1872 by Bonaventura Eijsbouts as a "factory for tower clocks." In 1893 Eijsbouts was joined by his 15 year old son, Johan, and the workshop expanded to begin supplying striking and swinging bells, which...
in Asten
Asten
Asten is a municipality and a town in the southern Netherlands.It is home to the Royal Eijsbouts bell foundry and also a carillon museum.- History :...
, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. The North Campus bourdon
Bourdon (bell)
The bourdon is the heaviest of the bells that belong to a musical instrument, especially a chime or a carillon, and produces its lowest tone....
bell weighs in at six ton
Ton
The ton is a unit of measure. It has a long history and has acquired a number of meanings and uses over the years. It is used principally as a unit of weight, and as a unit of volume. It can also be used as a measure of energy, for truck classification, or as a colloquial term.It is derived from...
s.