Guardian Building

The Guardian Building is Detroit's Art Deco masterpiece, a 40-storey skyscraper of 1929 that ranks among the finest commercial buildings of its age anywhere in America. Designed by architect Wirt Rowland, it earned the nickname the Cathedral of Finance for the sheer exuberance of its ornament and its role as a bank headquarters at the height of the city's roaring industrial boom.

The exterior already signals something unusual. Clad in warm orange brick with a crown of colourful tiled setbacks, it stands out vividly against the more sober grey towers of downtown. But the real revelation waits inside, where a vaulted banking lobby erupts in colour, a soaring three-storey hall lined with Pewabic and Rookwood tile, Numidian marble, Monel metal and a hand-painted canvas ceiling of bold geometric patterns drawn from Native American and Aztec design.

It remains a working office building and a designated National Historic Landmark, still occupied and with its dazzling lobby open to the public. The rich blend of Aztec, Arts and Crafts and Art Deco motifs makes the interior one of the most spectacular commercial spaces in the country, a vivid record of the confidence and craftsmanship of 1920s Detroit in the last months before the Depression struck.

Practical notes: the lobby is free to enter during business hours, and visitors are welcome to admire the great hall, though it remains an active workplace, so quiet respect is expected. Allow twenty to thirty minutes, longer if a guided downtown architecture tour includes it and the upper mezzanine. It sits on Griswold Street in the financial district, an easy stop while exploring downtown. Photography is generally permitted in the lobby, which glows under its coloured ceiling.