Wirt C. Rowland
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Wirt Clinton Rowland (December 1, 1887, Clinton, Michigan–November 30, 1946) was an American architect best known for his work in Detroit, Michigan.
Biography
Rowland grew up in Clinton, Michigan and in 1901 landed a job as an office boy for the Detroit firm of Rogers & MacFarlane, quickly moving on to the prestigious George D. Mason firm. In 1909 he joined the office of Albert Kahn, who had also apprenticed under Mason. In 1910, with the encouragement of both Mason and Kahn, Rowland attended the Harvard Graduate School of Design in Boston for a year.
The combination of Rowland's natural design talent, his Harvard education and Detroit's healthy economy positioned him to make major contributions to the city's architectural stock. Rowland is a case study in the problem of design attribution. In 1911, in the office of Kahn, he and Ernest Wilby are said to be primarily responsible for the Hill Auditorium on the campus of the University of Michigan. Through 1915 Rowland worked for the local firm of Malcomson & Higginbotham, then returned to Kahn's office to contribute to some of Kahn's classic projects of the time, namely the Hatcher Graduate Library at the University of Michigan, the Detroit News Building, the 1922 First National Bank Building, and the 1922 General Motors Building.
Rowland's career peaked as Head Designer of Smith Hinchman & Grylls (now SmithGroup) in the years 1922 through 1930, where he is clearly credited with a dozen major structures in downtown Detroit, a number that includes the most accomplished and evocative buildings in the city. To a large extent Rowland built Detroit. The climax is the Union Trust / Guardian Building. In the Guardian Building Rowland integrated the work of multiple artisans, mosaicists, sculptors (notably Corrado Parducci), painters and tile manufacturers to synthesize an architectural experience comparable to the collaborative effect of a medieval cathedral, hence its name "the Cathedral of Finance".
Unfortunately the Guardian Building opened in 1930, just as the Great Depression hit the city, and Rowland formed his own office. His work decreased to a small number of churches, schools, and construction projects, and late in life he returned to a purer Gothic idiom for his last few projects. He died in 1946.
Designs for Smith Hinchman & Grylls
- Jefferson Avenue Presbyterian Church, Detroit, Michigan (1925)
- Buhl Building, Detroit, Michigan (1925)
- Bankers' Trust Building, Detroit, Michigan (1925)
- Grand Rapids Trust Building, Grand Rapids, Michigan (1926)
- Michigan Bell Building, (1927)
- Penobscot Building, Detroit, Michigan (1928)
- Union Trust / Guardian Building, Detroit, Michigan (1929)