Blog

The Preservation of the Movies of Alden B. Dow

Alden B. Dow loved to make movies. Whether it was showing the construction of the Midland Center for the Arts, capturing the changing seasons around his Home and Studio, documenting his time as a Taliesin Fellow, or recording his children growing up and having children of their own, he always

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January 25, 2023

IN THE ARCHIVES: Dow Gardens Greenhouse in Midland, Michigan by Alden B. Dow

In the later years of his career, Alden B. Dow turned his attention to designing a number of structures to enhance the enjoyment of and upgrade the facilities of Dow Gardens. Throughout the 1970s he developed a Master Plan for the Gardens and added new bridges, a Greenhouse, and its

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December 12, 2022

Midland Fire Station No. 1 by Alden B. Dow

Midland Fire Station No. 1 is one of the 39 civic structures designed by Alden B. Dow during his career. He completed the working drawings on April 23, 1955, and in June the construction contract was awarded to the Charles Engelhardt Construction Company of Bay City. The final cost of

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November 21, 2022

2022 Zonta Homewalk Tickets Available

The Alden B. Dow Home and Studio is proud to collaborate with the Zonta Club of Midland to bring you the 41st Annual Zonta Homewalk. For several years now, Zonta incorporates Mid-Century Modern Structures in their wonderful holiday home walk making this uniquely Midland! Please join us as we

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November 18, 2022

Midland Hospital by Alden B. Dow

Alden B. Dow’s initial presentation drawing for a proposed Midland Hospital was dated August 1938, a full two years before the Midland Hospital Association was established. The Association organized the fund raising campaign to build the city’s first hospital in 1940, eventually securing pledges of $275,000 from 5,200 community members.

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November 11, 2022

Alden B. Dow Home and Studio Holiday Tours | December 1–31, 2022

Alden and Vada Dow made Christmas a joyous and playful family celebration. This December, experience the beauty and fun of their zooming scale trains, playful mechanical toys, shimmering Christmas tree decorations, joyous holiday music, and the warm and inviting atmosphere they created for family, friends and holiday guests in this

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November 10, 2022

Alden B. Dow’s Houses for Ingersoll Village in Kalamazoo, Michigan

As World War II drew to a close, Alden B. Dow actively participated in the design of badly-needed, low-cost housing. Seeking an efficient and economical way to build homes, the Ingersoll Steel and Disc Division of the Borg-Warner Corporation of Kalamazoo produced a prefabricated, all-in-one utility unit that could be

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November 3, 2022

Generational Ties – Exhibit of the Fiber artwork of Leslie Anne Feagley

The Alden B. Dow Home and Studio is proud to host Generational Ties an exhibit of the Fiber artwork of Leslie Anne Feagley paired with the architectural design of her father, Alden B. Dow Associate Architect Jack P. Feagley. The exhibit is featured in the Second Drafting Room of the

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October 17, 2022

Alden B. Dow’s Houses for the Ethyl-Dow Chemical Company in Cape Fear, North Carolina

In the early 1930s, the Dow Chemical Company partnered with the Ethyl Gasoline Company to build a plant to extract bromine from seawater off the coast of North Carolina. Although bromine had a number of industrial uses at the time, its primary use then was in the manufacture of ethylene

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September 20, 2022

Dow Chemical Company 2020 Building by Alden B. Dow

A recent Facebook post about the University of Michigan Administration Building and its demolition prompted an interesting observation about how “un-Dow-like” the design of the building appeared. While the exterior displayed a composed order of squares and rectangles, it was not the first time Alden B. Dow composed the surface

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September 15, 2022

Dow By Decade – Saturday, October 8, 2022

DOW BY DECADE Saturday, October 8, 2022 12- 4 pm, $25 per person Featuring self-guided interior tours of three Alden B. Dow designed homes 1934 The Hanson Home 1941 The Bass Home

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September 15, 2022

Demolition of the University of Michigan Administration Building in Ann Arbor, Michigan

During the 1950s and 1960s, Alden B. Dow built six university and three civic buildings in Ann Arbor. Perhaps his most unusual campus building was the University of Michigan Administration Building, which he designed in 1964. The exterior is like a geometric Mondrian painting rendered in three dimensions. The brick

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August 26, 2022