A. Alfred Taubman Center for Design Education

01 / The story of this place

Make time for these

Albert Kahn designed this Art Deco building for General Motors in two phases, in 1928 and 1936, as the automaker's original engineering and design headquarters. Legendary engineer Charles Kettering and designer Harley Earl both worked inside its walls, and it's where GM built the world's first true concept car, the 1938 Buick Y-Job. GM moved its design operations to the Renaissance Center in 1999 and left the Argonaut Building empty for years until it donated the structure to the College for Creative Studies in 2007. After a $145 million renovation, the college reopened it in 2009 as the A. Alfred Taubman Center for Design Education, named for the shopping-mall developer and philanthropist whose $15 million gift helped fund the project. It now houses CCS's undergraduate design departments, its graduate design programs, and the Henry Ford Academy charter school.

1. Built by Albert Kahn for GM in 1928 and 1936 as the Argonaut Building
2. Harley Earl designed the first concept car here, the 1938 Buick Y-Job
3. GM donated the building to CCS in 2007
4. Reopened in 2009 as the A. Alfred Taubman Center for Design Education
5. Home to CCS's design departments and the Henry Ford Academy