The Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit, Michigan, United States.
The Renaissance Center, commonly known as the RenCen, is a complex of seven connected skyscrapers in downtown Detroit, Michigan, United States. The Renaissance Center complex is on the Detroit International Riverfront and is owned and used by General Motors as its world headquarters. The central tower has been the tallest building in Michigan since its completion in 1977.
John Portman was the principal architect for the concept design, with the complex seeming to be an aesthetically architectural sibling of the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in California completed a year earlier. The first phase consisted of a five-tower rosette rising from a common base. Four 39-story office towers surround the 73-story hotel rising from a square podium that includes a shopping center, restaurants, brokers, and banks. The first phase officially opened in March 1977. Portman's design brought renewed attention to city architecture since it resulted in the construction of the world's tallest hotel at the time. Two additional 21-story office towers (known as Tower 500 and Tower 600) opened in 1981. This type of complex has been termed a city within a city.
Thanks to Google Earth Studio for this amazing aerial view.
John Portman was the principal architect for the concept design, with the complex seeming to be an aesthetically architectural sibling of the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in California completed a year earlier. The first phase consisted of a five-tower rosette rising from a common base. Four 39-story office towers surround the 73-story hotel rising from a square podium that includes a shopping center, restaurants, brokers, and banks. The first phase officially opened in March 1977. Portman's design brought renewed attention to city architecture since it resulted in the construction of the world's tallest hotel at the time. Two additional 21-story office towers (known as Tower 500 and Tower 600) opened in 1981. This type of complex has been termed a city within a city.
Thanks to Google Earth Studio for this amazing aerial view.
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00:00The Renaissance Center, commonly known as the Renssen, is a complex of seven connected
00:12skyscrapers in downtown Detroit, Michigan, United States.
00:16The Renaissance Center complex is on the Detroit International Riverfront and is owned and
00:20used by General Motors as its world headquarters.
00:23The Central Tower has been the tallest building in Michigan since its completion in 1977.
00:29John Portman was the principal architect for the concept design, with the complex seeming
00:34to be an aesthetically architectural sibling of the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in California
00:38completed a year earlier.
00:40The first phase consisted of a five-tower rosette rising from a common base.
00:45Four 39-story office towers surround the 73-story hotel rising from a square podium that includes
00:51a shopping center, restaurants, brokers, and banks.
00:55The first phase officially opened in March 1977.
00:59Portman's design brought renewed attention to city architecture since it resulted in
01:02the construction of the world's tallest hotel at the time.
01:06Two additional 21-story office towers, known as Tower 500 and Tower 600, opened in 1981.
01:13This type of complex has been termed a city within a city.
01:16In 2004, General Motors completed a US$500 million renovation of the Class A Center as
01:22its world headquarters, which it had purchased in 1996.
01:26The renovation included the addition of the five-story Wintergarden Atrium, which provides
01:31access to the International Riverfront.
01:34Architects for the renovation included Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Gensler, Smith Group, and
01:39Ghaffari Associates.
01:41Work continued in and around the complex until 2005.
01:44Renaissance Center totals 5,552,000 square feet, making it one of the world's largest
01:50commercial complexes.
01:52The idea was first conceived by Henry Ford II, the Ford Motor Company chairman of the
01:56time.
01:58In 1970, to bring his idea to life, Ford teamed up with other business leaders to form the
02:03Detroit Renaissance.
02:05This was a private non-profit development organization that Ford headed to stimulate
02:09building activity and revitalize the economy of Detroit.
02:13Henry Ford II sold the concept of the Rensan to the city and community leaders.
02:18Detroit Mayor Roman Gribbs touted the project as a complete rebuilding from bridge to bridge.
02:23Referring to the area between the Ambassador Bridge, which connects Detroit to Windsor,
02:27Ontario, and the MacArthur Bridge, which connects the city with Belle Isle Park.
02:32The Detroit Renaissance announced the first phase of construction in 1971, receiving primary
02:37financing from the Ford Motor Company.
02:40It soon became the world's largest private development with an anticipated 1971 cost
02:44of $500 million.
02:47The principal architect was John Portman, the architect behind the Westin Peachtree
02:51Plaza Hotel and the Peachtree Center in Atlanta, Georgia, the Embarcadero Center in San Francisco,
02:57California, and the Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles, California.
03:01The city within a city arose.
03:03The first phase of Renaissance Center opened on July 1, 1976.
03:08For phase one, the facade of the first five towers was covered with 2 million square feet
03:13of glass and used about 400,000 cubic yards of concrete.
03:17This did not include the additional glass used for the atriums.
03:20It also cost $337 million to construct, employing 7,000 workers.
03:26The heating and cooling systems for the buildings were housed in two-story concrete berms facing
03:30Jefferson Avenue.
03:32Other phases that included residences, additional offices and retail space were never constructed.
03:38When the Renaissance Center opened, the cylindrical central tower was originally the flagship
03:42of Westin Hotels.
03:44The top three floors of the hotel hosted an upscale restaurant, The Summit, that rotated
03:48to allow a 360-degree view.
03:51The shopping center in the podium originally housed high-end boutiques, but now contains
03:55a greater complement of restaurants in the retail mix.
03:59That is all.
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