Unlike the Golden Gate Bridge, the Empire State Building or Chicago’s Sears Tower, some structural marvels exist out of the public eye. One of those would be a jewel designed by master architect Eero Saarinen completed back in 1955 called the General Motors Technical Center.

The “Tech Center” as it is known, is tucked out of public view in Warren, Michigan and it has been the good fortune of GM engineers, designers and technicians to be housed in a complex that introduced dozens of stylistic and functional innovations that still earn acclaim today. The American Institute of Architects, for instance, has called the Tech Center “the most outstanding architectural project of its era.”

By borrowing from the then progressive “International Style” of design, Saarinen's goal was to provide a symbol of tomorrow's industrial environment, where the surroundings would be beautiful as well as functional. Saarinen’s goal for the design complex was to avoid an institutional look so common in the 50s and replace tall, windowless structures with low, long and horizontal buildings.

Most of Saarinen’s functional ideas - innovative in the 50s - have stood the test of time so that what was novel 53 years ago has in many cases become the industry standard today.

One of the more practical items incorporated into the Tech Center design is its 1.1 miles of underground tunnels that connect major technical groups. This feature was a particularly forward-thinking idea since the weather in southeast Michigan, especially in winter, can be very unpredictable and the tunnels eliminated the need to traverse across the huge campus during harsh climate conditions.

Saarinen often borrowed technical ingenuity pioneered by GM and other automakers in the construction of the Tech Center. For example, it was common for him to use automobile materials for use in the construction of the Tech Center offices and distribution centers. The window designs Saarinen used in the building’s windows, for example, were based on the mechanical sealing gaskets used on car windshields – a technique revolutionary for the time.

As a nod to Henry Ford, Saarinen made liberal use of assembly line construction methods to speed up production time for the original structures that spread across the campus. Experts agree that without the use of the assembly line process, the Tech Center would have taken significantly longer to build than the six years it took to complete the original 26 structures.

Another time-saving technique was the idea of building the interior walls of the complex at plants and having them assembled on site. It was not only faster but saved precious construction space that was used to construct more intricate pieces of Saarinen’s vision for the project.

To make the buildings as flexible as possible, Saarinen used a five-foot module or standardized measurement. This applied not only to the steel construction, but to the lighting, heating, ventilating and fire protection facilities, as well as to laboratory furniture, storage units, wall partitions and door units - all of which are keyed to it. The five foot module was chosen instead of the more popular (at the time) four-foot module because GM wanted larger (10 and 15-foot wide) offices for its employees. After the Tech Center was completed, the five-foot module was used as a model for much of the engineering industry.

Buildings at the Tech Center represented the first significant installation of laminated panels and the first use of a uniquely thin sandwich panel that is a complete wall in itself. Instead of walls constructed out of 14-inch thick masonry - that was a building practice for hundreds of years - the same heat-insulating qualities were achieved with panels only two inches thick, vastly increasing usable space.

Another Saarinen idea was the generous use of ceramic glazed bricks incorporated into the blueprint as a device to resemble autumn leaves reflecting the late afternoon sun. The bricks he chose for this tableau were various shades of crimson, orange, yellow, blue, and neutrals of olive, slate and black. To accommodate the heavy use of brick, GM financed the building of a large kiln used specifically for their production.

Among Saarinen’s more avant-guard devices was the use of large, open, lobbies. Saarinen wanted the capability to show off automotive products in grand fashion for both employees and visitors alike, a novel concept in the day.

Other innovations abound throughout the Tech Center. In the Research and Development quadrant there is a full-working foundry; a cafeteria constructed of 21 different kinds of wood from all over the world and an administration lobby designed as a flexible exhibition hall with glass panels that slide to allow vehicles to be brought inside easy viewing.

Also within the Research and Development lobby is the "Floating Staircase," designed by Kevin Roche which is supported by thin cylinder rods, anchored at the top and bottom. Each stair is 3/4 of a ton of Norwegian granite - a total of more than 25 tons. Seeming to float in space, they are actually hanging from stainless steel suspension rods in the center of the spiral which form a converging cone held at the top and the bottom.

The "Floating Staircase"

Adjacent to the Research and Development Building is the Engineering Building designed to have a "countertop" arrangement which provided additional desk space along the windows with files accessible to office workers even while seated at their desks. The buildings were arranged to provide exceptionally good lighting. Elevators, stairwells and rest rooms are located on the south side of the building to provide the maximum northern light for the drafting rooms.

The originality of the GM Technical Center doesn’t stop within the confines of the office interiors. The exterior design was a model of how future office complexes would work with the environment to provide optimal balance between building and grounds.

Tree-lined walkways, grand fountains, a multitude of far-reaching shrubs, over 150 acres of lawn punctuated by a massive rectangular lake in the middle of the complex were an archetype of the modern business center.

The lake itself is a tribute to architectural imagination. Covering just over 22 acres, the lake is seven feet deep and is stocked with several varieties of fish. The two major fountains in the lake pump more water than all the great fountains in Versailles, with the main fountain pumping more than 6,000 gallons of water per minute to create a 115-foot wide, 55-foot high "wall of water." Four islands decorate the lake, with weeping willows gracefully hanging down from each.

The fountain just outside the Research and Development Administration building is a water-ballet designed by Alexander Calder. He named the various elements of the water-ballet: Fantails, Seven Sisters, Scissors and Plops. The one-of-a-kind liquid monument uses 3,600 gallons of water per minute.

In front of the Design Center stands a 20-foot sculpture in polished and oxidized bronze, created by the French sculptor, Antoine Pevsner. It came through US customs under the title, "Flight of the Bird," but many people refer to the sculpture as "Lines in Motion." In addition, a stainless steel water tower resembling a piece of modern sculpture springs from the northeast corner of the lake to rise 132 feet over the surface of the water.

Since the original campus was built in 1955, the Tech Center has grown in relation to GM’s growth. While initially keeping an eye to Saarinen’s “big-picture” philosophy for building and landscaping, cost concerns at the Tech Center have in recent years compelled contemporary architects to abandon the “International Style” for which Saarinen became famous. While some critics bemoan that development, most agree, even with these design changes, the GM Technical Center remains one of southeast Michigan’s most endearing architectural feats.

Henry-Russell Hitchcock, the leading American architectural historian of his generation, called the Technical Center “a major example of American industrial building raised at the behest of a corporate client into the realm of distinguished architecture,” and referred to Saarinen as “one of the leaders of post-war architecture in the United States.”

For more information on other architectural innovations connected with the automotive industry and labor, go to MotorCities National Heritage Area at www.motorcities.org.