Alden B. Dow


Alden B. Dow, an architect based in Midland, Michigan, was renowned for his contributions to the Michigan Modern style. Beginning in the 1930s, he designed more than 70 residences and dozens of churches, schools, civic and art centers, and commercial buildings during his 30+ year career. The Midland Center for the Arts, the 1950s Grace A. Dow Memorial Library, his many contributions to Dow Gardens and his former residence, the Alden Dow House and Studio, are among the numerous examples of his work located in his hometown of Midland, Michigan. He is the son of industrialist Herbert Dow, the founder of the Dow Chemical Company, and his wife, philanthropist Grace A. Dow who in 1936 founded the Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow Foundation in memory of her husband. Dow is known for his prolific and striking Modernist architectural designs. He served on the board of Dow Chemical Company for most of his adult life.

Biography

Education

Alden B. Dow attended Midland Public Schools through high school. He attended the University of Michigan to study engineering in preparation to join his father's chemical manufacturing company. After three years, Dow transferred as a student of architecture at Columbia University, where he graduated in 1931.
That year, he married Vada Bennett, also of Midland. Her father, Earl Bennett, was chairman of the board of directors at the Dow Chemical Company, a major employer in the city. The couple had three children together: Michael Lloyd Dow, Mary Lloyd Dow, and Barbara Alden Dow.
After working for a year and a half with the architectural firm of Frantz and Spence in nearby Saginaw, he and Vada studied with architect Frank Lloyd Wright at his Taliesin studio in Spring Green, Wisconsin, for the summer in 1933.

Early career

Following his brief apprenticeship with Frank Lloyd Wright, Dow opened his own studio in 1934 in Midland.
Dow described his own philosophy of design as "Architecture is more than the front face of the building. It is the location of the building. It is the plan of the building. It is the construction of the building. It is the heating and cooling of the building. It is the furnishing of the building. It is the landscaping of the building. It is, in its entirety, the manifestation of wholesome living."
He received the Diplome de Grand Prix at that 1937 Paris International Exposition for best residential design in the world, based on the design of his residence and also for his work on the John Whitman residence.
In 1941, Dow officially incorporated his business as Alden B. Dow, Inc. The following year, Dow was tasked with designing a company town in Texas for workers at his father's Dow Chemical Company's site near Freeport, Texas. With his brother Willard and Dow Chemical Company executive A.P. Beutel, Dow chose a site west of Freeport that was formerly the site of the Abner Jackson Plantation. Dow designed the town, which they named Lake Jackson, to hold 5,000 people. The residential layout was notable for its lack of straight streets; Dow felt that winding roads would provide "something of a surprise around each turn." The streets were given whimsical names, including the intersecting "This Way" and "That Way" as well as "Circle Way," "Winding Way," and "Any Way." Dow also provided the six designs used to build different models of houses within the newly created town. The first residents moved in at the end of 1943.

Growth

In 1963, he changed the business name to Alden B. Dow Associates, Inc., to reflect taking on more employees to accommodate growth. Dow designed the Fleming Administration Building at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, completed in 1968. The building houses the offices of the university's president. Its narrow windows and fortress-like exterior led to a campus rumor that it was designed in the wake of the student activism of the 1960s to be riot-proof. Dow was purportedly offended by those rumors, insisting that the small windows were designed to be energy efficient.
As time passed, Dow began to delve into other types of architecture, designing many commercial and community buildings, especially in and around his hometown of Midland. Dow relinquished the chairmanship of his company in 1974 to Jim Howell.
In 1983, Dow was named the architect laureate of Michigan, an achievement in his 50-year career. He died shortly after, on August 20, 1983. That title has not been bestowed on anyone since Dow.
The company name was changed to Dow, Howell & Gilmore Associates Inc. after his death. It is owned by its employees.
Six years later, in 1989, Dow's residence was designated as a National Historic Landmark, both for its own architectural significance and the contributions of his career to national American architecture.

Selected works

[Image:Midland-Center-For-The-Arts.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Midland Center for the Arts]

Midland

Other Tri-Cities">Tri-Cities, Michigan">Tri-Cities (along with Midland)

[Ann Arbor]

  • Harry and Margaret Towsley House, Ann Arbor, Michigan, built for Dow's sister and her husband. It was the "first residence in the country designed with an attached garage facing the street."
  • University of Michigan Women's Swimming Pool, Margaret Bell Building, Ann Arbor, Michigan
  • Ann Arbor Public Library, Ann Arbor, Michigan
  • University of Michigan Botanical Gardens, Ann Arbor, Michigan
  • Ann Arbor Community Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan
  • Dunbar Community Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan
  • Leonard Service Station, Ann Arbor, Michigan
  • Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
  • Ann Arbor City Hall, also known as Guy C. Larcom, Jr. Municipal Building, 301 East Huron Street, Ann Arbor, Michigan
  • Conductron Corporation Offices, Ann Arbor, Michigan
  • University Microfilms Building, Ann Arbor, Michigan
  • Fleming Administration Building, Ann Arbor, Michigan he University of Michigan's central administration building, designed in 1964 by Michigan's architect laureate Alden Dow, is named the. The board of regents approved an infrastructure plan in 2016 that will result in the demolition of the Fleming Building, but university president Mark Schlissel said the school would find another way to continue commemorating Fleming, whom he called one of his personal heroes. Demolition began in August, 2022. The building was considered functionally obsolescent.
  • University of Michigan Continuing Education Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan
  • Greenhills School, 850 Greenhills Dr., Ann Arbor, Michigan

[Bloomfield Hills]

  • Gordon Saunders House
  • Hellenic Orthodox Community Church of St. George, also known as Saint George Greek Orthodox Church, 43816 Woodward Avenue
  • Lynn A. & Ruth M. Townsend House, 1485 Kirkway

[Kalamazoo]

Elsewhere

Michigan

Other states

Foundation

The Alden and Vada Dow Family Foundations were established beginning in 1960 to assist Midland and the surrounding communities. They fund programs in the arts, education, the environment, youth programs and health & human services. Grants are limited to other non-profit organizations in Central Michigan and the Northern lower peninsula with a focus on Bay, Saginaw and Midland Counties. They are a 501 tax-exempt organization and their office is in Midland. As of 2023, they had assets of approximately $6 million, yearly expenditures of $1.15 million and revenue of $1.7 million. Trustees of the Foundation are all descendants of Alden & Vada.
The Alden and Vada Dow Creativity Foundation was founded in 1986 after Alden's death by Vada and her children. The stated mission is to "preserve, share and encourage exploration of the philosophies of Alden B. Dow" This is accomplished via educational programs, research opportunities in the archives of Alden Dow and Alden B. Dow Home and Studio tours.
There are two entities that award grants: the Vada B. Dow Charitable Unitrust supports the creativity foundation; the Alden and Vada Dow Fund underwrites the majority of activity.

Awards