Project Description

Detroit didn’t just restore a building. It reclaimed a symbol.

Michigan Central Station was designed by Warren & Wetmore and Reed & Stern — the same architectural team behind New York City’s Grand Central Station. For decades it stood empty, a Beaux-Arts giant slowly surrendering to vandalism and decay. In June 2024 it reopened its doors to the public for the first time in nearly four decades, following an extensive six-year restoration by Ford Motor Company.

The waiting room is where you feel it most. The restoration required the equivalent of 8.7 miles of grout across 29,000 Guastavino ceiling tiles, and 4,200 new light fixtures were installed including recreations of the original chandeliers. The glowing sculptural installations seen here occupied the grand floor during the reopening festivities — contemporary light art against century-old brick and steel, new energy filling a space that had been silent for a generation.

This is what a city looks like when it decides to believe in itself again.