On a roll with the Guardian Building here, so I am posting some photos from the year it was last restored – 2004. Shown here is the interior after completion.
[ADDING THIS LINK: http://buildingsofdetroit.com/places/guardian. This is the most complete written history you are going find in one spot.]
This was during restoration – not too many chances to see the commerce lobby completely empty like this. Back then I carried mostly film equipment, and a 4 megapixel digital camera.
Closer views of the mural by Ezra Winter
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezra_Winter
Louis Comfort Tiffany clock – one of the largest in the world.
Front lobby desk
There are a few mosaics on this building….lol
Then outside for a couple Parducci and Pewabic details.
Corrado Parducci
Pewabic tile.
I restored some WPA murals with the original artist, Frank Cassara. I can totally relate to your excitement, dedication and love of the art. Kudo’s for taking the pictures and posting. Thanks again!!
Absolutely gorgeous photos of a gorgeous structure. You do justice to the subject matter!
Finest piece of art deco in the world!
All drawn by hand – as Tim pointed out in the last post. The original drawings for this must be insane – DAN (buildingsofdetroit.com) > ? ?
The nickname “Cathedral of Finance” really can be taken literally, cant it ? The place has the feel of a genuine Cathedral sanctuary. Complete with stained glass windows in the elevator lobby. As much as I love the Fisher Building, this place is the one that blows my mind the hardest.
Im not saying this tops Angkor Wat, or Taj Mahal, the Kremlin, the cathedrals of Europe, or the ancient Greeks, or the ancient Egyptians, MesoAmerican, nor some of the architecture in Barcelona etc.. But I will say I believe it stands shoulder to shoulder with all those historical structures. It also manages to pay homage to many of them at the same time !
OMG!!!
You are the MAN, dfunk!! Nothing less than a mind-blowing eyegasm of the senses.
Where do we start? The overwhelming awe you experience walking into the lobby and seeing the Tiffany clock and screen in front of you? Or the Winter mural in the distance and the color blast of the hive tile above you as enter the inner sanctorium?
I remember the acoustics were similar to a grand cathedral and you felt like speaking in a hushed voice. The sheer beauty in every single utilitarian appurtenance down to the bloody ashtrays and elevator buttons left me shaking my head in amazement.
Your photos dfunk prove without a doubt the overpowering beauty and life that can be conveyed in an inanimate assemblage of building materials in an era when people genuinely cared about their craft.
The eighth photo from the bottom captures it all – the tile setbacks flanking the stained glass are accentuated by the shadowplay of the recesses.
It does NOT get any better than this!
Ummm, can you tell I like architecture?
I’m purchasing a 2.5TB hard drive for that billion of photos you have dfunk, lol! Alright folks, I’ll go back quietly into my corner and leave you in peace.
Grateful thanks for providing me the memories I couldn’t capture at the time, dfunk.
i just cant afford film, im too compulsive with photo taking – i could never develop and store it all.
I have only one word, WOW! They sure don’t make them like this anymore. Also, can I get a shout out for film. Someone took my Kodachrome away.