SWANSON ASSOCIATES INC. ARCHITECTS
Swanson Associates Inc.
[Swanson Associates Inc., Architects]: SWANSON ASSOCIATES INC. ARCHITECTS. Bloomfield Hills, MI: [Swanson Associates Inc., Architects, c. 1967]. Original edition. Quarto. Thick plastic covers. Plastic comb binding. [100] pp. Multiple paper stocks. Elaborate design and production throughout. Trivial wear overall, but a fine, uncirculated example.
8.5 x 11 prospectus for Swanson Associates Inc. with 100 pages of work examples and other data showcasing the firm’s work in the Bloomfield Hills area and throughout Michigan during the fifties and early sixties. Includes biographis of principals J. Robert F. Swanson, AIA, Robert Saarinen Swanson, AIA, Jack K. Monteith, AIA, John K. Grylls, PE, Floyd H. Heineman, John C. Palms, PE, Paul Engle, AIA, Lawrence W. Saltz, IEEE, Leroy F. Steinert, MSPE, Pipsan Saarinen Swanson, AID, And Lynn W. Fry, AIA.
The portfolio of current work includes The University Of Michigan Student Activities Building Addition [1961], The University Of Michigan Research Administration Building [1963], The University Of Michigan North Campus Center [1965], The University Of Michigan Cedar Bend Houses 1 [1966], Cedar Bend Houses 11 [1967], Northern Michigan Univeristy Spalding & Gant Halls [1965], Oakland University Campus Development Plan [1957], Oakland University North & South Foundation Hall [1958], Oakland University Student Center Addition [1961], Oakland University Kresge Library [1961], Eastern Michigan University Warner Gymnasium [1964], Eastern Michigan University Sill Hall [1965], Eastern Michigan University Martha Best Hall [1965], Eastern Michigan University Library [1967], Plymouth State Home & Training School Outpatient Clinic [1966], Plymouth State Home & Training School [1966], The Courier-Times Offices & Newspaper Production Facilities, New Castle Indiana [1961], Ray Industries Office & Maintenance Facilties, Oxford, Michigan [1962], Gloria Dei Lutheran Church Classrooms & Fellowship Hall, Pontiac Township, Michigan [1961], Farmington Michigan Presbytarian Church Classrooms & Fellowship Hall [1962], Pontiac Michigan First Presbyterian Church Classrooms & Chapel [1963], and the Saint John Fisher Chapel, Pontiac Township [1966].
J.[ons] Robert F.[erdinand] Swanson (Bob) was born on June 14, 1900 in Menominee, Michigan to Swan Swanson, a lumberjack, and Anna Nordquist, both of whom were natives of Sweden. The Swanson family moved from northern Michigan to Grand Rapids, and later to Adrian, MI, where Bob graduated from high school.
Eva Lisa Saarinen (Pipsan) was born in Kirkkonummi, Finland on March 31, 1905. Pipsan was the daughter of Eliel Saarinen, an internationally distinguished architect, and Loja Gesellius, an accomplished sculptor, weaver, fabric and textile designer. Pipsan attended the Atheneum Art School and the University of Helsinki where she studied weaving, ceramics, and fabric design.
Bob was a student of architecture at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor when he met Pipsan through her father, who was a guest faculty member. Bob also met and became a close friend of Henry (Harry) Scripps Booth. In 1924, after graduating, Bob and Harry began work at Cranbrook and created the architectural firm of Swanson and Booth. The firm for many years also included Eliel and his son Eero. Bob broke away to establish his own firm of Swanson Associates, and in 1933, moved the firm to the Guardian Building in downtown Detroit. It was at this time that Pipsan joined Bob as interior designer. Eliel was a partner for a number of years as the company developed. Pipsan became a partner in 1944. Notably, theirs became the first architectural firm that included interiors as part of the organization. In 1935, the firm moved to the Wabeek Building in Birmingham, and in 1946 relocated to the old Circle School building on Long Lake Road near Woodward Ave. in Bloomfield Hills. The firm remained on this site through several building expansions.
The Swansons, married in 1926, were lifelong design partners, and their work encompassed exteriors and interiors of many types: residences, schools, universities, churches, airports, banks and government, industrial, and commercial developments. They traveled extensively and raised two sons, Robert Saarinen Swanson and Ronald Saarinen Swanson. Pipsan passed away on October 23, 1979; Bob on March 13, 1981. [Cranbrook Educational Community]