The General Motors Technical Center in Warren, Mich., north of Detroit, has been named a National Historic Landmark by the United States Department of the Interior and the National Park Service. The automaker’s research campus opened in 1956 and houses the G.M. design center, once called the styling department. The low, linear glass and glazed brick buildings — an example of what is now called midcentury modern architecture — are home to some 19,000 engineers, researchers, executives and other employees along the banks of a rectangular lake.
The commendation for the award reads:
“The General Motors Technical Center (commonly known as the “GM Tech Center”) is one of the most significant works of architect Eero Saarinen, who was among the most important modernist designers of the post-World War II period in the United States. The G.M. Tech Center marked Saarinen’s emergence onto the national stage, and was the first of his four influential suburban corporate campuses that represented a sea change in American business facilities. The G.M. campus represents Saarinen’s work not just as a creator of buildings, but also as the planner/designer of total environments.”