Lafayette Park, Detroit

Mies van der Rohe Residential District, Lafayette Park
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
Roughly bounded by Lafayette Ave., Rivard, Antietam, and Orleans Sts.
Location:	Detroit, Michigan
Coordinates:	42°20′22″N 83°01′55″W / 42.3394°N 83.0319°W / 42.3394; -83.0319Coordinates: 42°20′22″N 83°01′55″W / 42.3394°N 83.0319°W / 42.3394; -83.0319
Area:	46 acres (19 ha)
Built:	1956
Architect:	Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Ludwig Hilberseimer, et al.
Architectural style:	International style
Governing body:	Private
NRHP Reference#:	96000809
Added to NRHP:	August 1, 1996[1]

The Lafayette Park development is a large park and residential complex just east of downtown Detroit, Michigan. The area is part of the Mies van der Rohe Residential District listed in the National Register of Historic Places.^[2] Lafayette Park is located on the city's lower east side near the Eastern Market Historic District.

Description

The 78-acre (32 ha) development was originally called Gratiot Park. Planned by Mies van der Rohe, Ludwig Hilberseimer and Alfred Caldwell it includes a landscaped, 19-acre (7.7 ha) park with no through traffic, in which these and other low-rise apartment buildings are sited.^[2]

The residential buildings of Lafayette Park are classic examples of Mies' International Style, with their simplicity, clean proportions, and cladding of tinted glass and aluminum.

The park and development are located roughly half-way between downtown and Chene Park, and are also close to Belle Isle and the MacArthur Bridge. There is also easy access to I-375, Gratiot Avenue, and Jefferson Avenue. Lafayette Park is also near the architecturally significant St. Joseph's Catholic Church and the Eastern Market Historic District.

Constituent buildings

Building Name	Floors	Year Completed
1300 Lafayette East Cooperative	29	1961
Lafayette Pavilion Apartments	22	1958
Lafayette Towers Apartments East	22	1963
Lafayette Towers Apartments West	22	1963
The Windsor Tower	21	1965

Education

The community is zoned to Detroit Public Schools.

Residents are zoned to Chrysler Elementary School,^[3] Duffield K-8 for middle school,^[4] and Martin Luther King High School.^[5]

Detroit Public Library operates the Elmwood Park Branch Library at 550 Chene. The branch first opened on April 21, 1975 in the Elmwood Park Plaza. The first owners of the shopping plaza included the branch after residents insisted on the inclusion of the library. As of 2009 it is the only branch located in a shopping plaza.^[6]

Gallery

• 

  Lafayette Park Detroit includes shopping

• 

  1300 Lafayette East Cooperative in the foreground, Lafayette Pavilion Apartments in the background

• 

  Lafayette Park's constituent apartment buildings

• 

  1300 Lafayette East Cooperative

• 

  1300 Lafayette East

• 

  Lafayette Towers Apartments East

• 

  Lafayette Towers Apartments West

See also

• Architecture of metropolitan Detroit
• Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
• Neighborhoods in Detroit, Michigan
• Black Bottom

Notes

1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-03-13. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Vitullo-Martin, Julio, with photo by Mike Russell (December 22, 2007).The Biggest Mies Collection: His Lafayette Park residential development thrives in Detroit.The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved on January 1, 2009.
3. ^ "Elementary School Boundary Map." Detroit Public Schools. Retrieved on October 20, 2009.
4. ^ "Middle School Boundary Map." Detroit Public Schools. Retrieved on October 20, 2009.
5. ^ "High School Boundary Map." Detroit Public Schools. Retrieved on October 20, 2009.
6. ^ "Elmwood Park Branch Library." Detroit Public Library. Retrieved on April 19, 2009.

References

• Waldheim, Charles (2004). Case: Lafayette Park Detroit. Prestel Publishing. ISBN 978-3791330440. 
• Hill, Eric J. and John Gallagher (2002). AIA Detroit: The American Institute of Architects Guide to Detroit Architecture. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-3120-3. 
• Garvin, Alexander (2002). The American City: What Works What Doesn't (2nd Ed.). McGraw Hill. ISBN 9780071373678. 

External links

• Google Maps location of the Lafayette Park
• Photographs of Lafayette Park