Cranbrook School

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WHAT WERE THE MOTIVATIONS OF THE GIFT-GIVER AND THE IMPACT OF THE GIFT ON THE SURROUNDING COMMUNITY? 

George and Ellen Booth were both devout Protestants, and in 1925, set forth to establish a Protestant church for the rural Bloomfield Hills community, which up until that point, had to travel outside of the town to attend worship services (Davies 312). Christ Church Cranbrook was one of the first structures on the Cranbrook estate that represented the core convictions of the donors, promoting an idealized service to their community through the integration of beauty, intellectual development, and the strengthening of one’s character (Pitts 5). The Booths sought to expand upon these convictions through the design and implementation of a school to attract young men from the community to sing for the Christ Church choir, and in 1922, extended their earlier collaboration with local parents in the development of a school for neighborhood children originally referred to as Bloomfield Hills School (Coir 2). The Booths were ardent supporters of the school, setting up a trust to fund its early educational programs, expanding on the renovated Cranbrook "Meeting House" (see Figure 8) to accommodate the increasing number of local male pupils who enrolled, renaming the Bloomfield Hills School to Brookside School Cranbrook when it was converted into an elementary school (Coir 3).

With every painstakingly designed element at the Cranbrook School, George Booth sought to “add to and strengthen the educational and cultural facilities within the State of Michigan,” (Cranbrook 405). The imaginatively conceived works of craftsmanship were carefully integrated throughout every feature of the campus to draw the attention of Cranbrook students, democratizing the experience of art as a “normal and desirable part of daily life,” (Goldberger). 

Many of the philosophies of the Arts and Crafts movement, particularly in regards to its applications to architecture, were inspired by the writings of William Morris, himself a Protestant and noted socialist. One could argue that the utilization of the Arts and Crafts style encouraged by George Booth was implemented with similar ideations of social reform through the Protestant communitarian ideology of the "creation of a dedicated community, a special world constructed in the service of some higher ideal," (Clark and Belloli). Such ideations of architectural forms having redemptive potential were predicted by the English architect Pugin, known for his work in the Gothic Revival style, seen in the design of the 1925 Christ Church Cranbrook (Davies), and 1931 Cranbrook Dining Hall (see Figure 9.1). Through the funding of the Cranbrook School and the creation of the Cranbrook Educational Community (see Figure 1), the Booths aspired to create a paradigm of architectural and cultural craftmanship capable of enriching the lives of everyone throughout the Midwest (Michigan Architectural Foundation).

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WAS THERE AN IMPOSED SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY OR RECIPROCATION IN THE ARCHITECTURAL GIFT,
AND WHO WERE THE PARTIES CHARGED WITH THESE ACTIONS?

Through the dedication of the Cranbrook School to the Bloomfield Hills community, George Booth sought to reunite a population he believed to have been separated by technology, industrialization, and urbanization. An outspoken advocate of the Arts and Crafts Movement, George Booth sought “to exemplify by supplying a model for others to admire and imitate… as an example of ethically responsible collective lives,” (Clark and Belloli).

While the Booths originally felt that the Cranbrook School should service the Christ Church Cranbrook, implementing morning worship services within the Assembly Hall (see Figure 2), and naming the dormitories after religious leaders within the local Protestant community, George Booth ultimately advocated for the private preparatory boarding school to remain secular, (Coir). Booth decided to spread his ideologies through the education of his community’s children, believing that, “his ideas could be advanced best when started from the youth… When sensitiveness to beauty is grafted into minds that are still young and receptive, the result is bound to be most effective,” (Clark and Belloli). It was Booth’s belief that the development of a community dedicated to the appreciation and creation of artistry would be best accomplished through the provision of an environment in which such ideas were nurtured. 

Over the last century, the Cranbrook Educational Community has maintained the architectural character and craftsmanship of the Cranbrook estate through preservation efforts funded by the endowments of the Cranbrook Foundation. In the 1970s, the Cranbrook Foundation reorganized into a tripartite Board of Trustees, and since then, “has authorized many significant initiatives designed to enhance the educational offerings of the divisions, to better manage the care and rehabilitation of Cranbrook’s historic physical plant and grounds, to strengthen Cranbrook’s fundraising efforts and financial well-being… and to encourage greater use of its grounds and public attractions,” (Coir). While tuition to attend the renowned Cranbrook School is extremely cost-prohibitive for many within the Detroit Metropolitan Area, access to the grounds and many of the facilities within the Cranbrook Educational Community remain free to the public. 

George Booth’s intentions were ultimately the promotion of the Arts and Crafts philosophy, “in hopes that it may be possible in Detroit to have a society composed of workers and those who believe in the ideals I have alluded to. A society whose members will be zealous to spread the gospel of good work and the higher and saner standards of art in objects of use and ornament to the end that American life may progress in simplicity and purity with the growth of the nation in real greatness and goodness," (Booth).

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DOES THE ARCHITECTURAL GIFT FEATURE DESIGN ELEMENTS THAT REPRESENT THE CULTURE OF THE GIFT-GIVER
AND/ OR THE COMMUNITY RECIPIENTS? 

While George Booth originally wanted to convert the existing farmhouses on the Cranbrook Estate for use as the Cranbrook School, on the advice of his contractor, Charles R. Wermuth, he instead developed the concept for a series of buildings “reminiscent of the finest British boarding schools,” (Eckert). The layout of the School’s buildings were planned with Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen, along the contours of the original farm structures, evolving into the form of the quadrangle courtyard (see Figure 2). Roman, Italian, and Byzantine spoila purchased by the Booths during their many travels abroad, decorate the grounds of the school (Adkisson).

The design of the Cranbrook School buildings are evocative of the Collegiate Gothic style, made popular in the 1920s, and is composed of a complex of brick structures with red clay tile roofs (see Figure 1) and delicately carved stone details (see Figures 9 - 10). Masonry detailing and ornamentation evident throughout the interior and exterior of each of Cranbrook School’s buildings were undertaken in the Arts and Crafts style (Pitts) with elements of Scandinavian brickwork inspired by architects Ragnar Östberg and Martin Nyrop (Adkisson). However, elements of medieval geometric forms and Art Deco ornamentation can also be observed throughout the School’s architectural detailing (see Figures 6 & 9). 

George Booth grew up in a family of copper and tin metal workers, receiving early training in the production and smelting of iron ore at the Red Foundry in Ontario, Canada, a trade he extended into his early entrepreneurial pursuits with the 1884 purchase of Barnum Wire and Iron Works in Windsor, Ontario (Pound). Some of the most significant details in the Arts and Crafts and Art Deco styles are seen in the gates installed throughout the campus of the Cranbrook Educational Community, and one of the first gates at Cranbrook was designed by George Booth and fabricated by the local Detroit Architectural Iron Works. Two of the most prominent cast iron gateways (see Figures 11), were designed by Eliel Saarinen’s son, Eero Saarinen when he was still a student at the University of Michigan in nearby Ann Arbor. 

Perhaps the most outstanding example of Arts and Crafts detailing found throughout the Cranbrook School can be observed in the amalgamated brick and limestone blocks that demarcate the Dining Hall entryway (see Figure 6). Possibly inspired by the textile craftwork of his wife, Loja Saarinen, the “quilted” form of the facade is blanketed by limestone surrounds inset with botanical stained glass fenestrations. The interior of the Dining Hall features a large, vaulted space ambiently lit through the blue and purple panes of the leaded-glass windows. Like many architects at the time, Saarinen and his family designed even the interior furnishings of the space, including tables, plates, dinnerware, and chairs featuring a decorative crane inset designed by Eero, all of which are still in use today (Adkisson). Cranbrook School for Boys stands as a testament to some of the best craftsmanship of the 1920s, all implemented through the philosophy of the Arts and Crafts style.

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Bibliography:

1. Kevin Adkisson, "Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research," June 9, 2020, Youtube Video, 25:15, https://youtu.be/hDx2V2LvfBU.
2. George Gough Booth, "Detroit Art Museum Speech" (Speech, Detroit, December 1905), Cranbrook Archives, https://cdm9024.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15103coll5/id/213/rec/4.
3. Robert J. Clark and Andrea P. A. Belloli, Design in America: The Cranbrook Vision, 1925 - 1950, Detroit Institute of Art/Metropolitan Museum of Art,
   (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1983).
4. Mark Coir, “Cranbrook: A Brief History,” Cranbrook Archives (2005), accessed March 31, 2023, https://www.cranbrook.edu/sites/default/files/ftpimages/120/misc/misc_47669.pdf
5. Florence Davies, "Christ Church, Cranbrook," American Magazine of Art, XX (June 1929), 311-25.
6. Kathryn Bishop Eckert, "Cranbrook" [Bloomfield Hills, Michigan], SAH Archipedia, 2012, accessed April 10, 2023, https://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/MI-01-OK4 
7. Paul Goldberger, "The Cranbrook Vision," The New York Times Magazine (April 1984). Retrieved March 28, 2023.
8. Michigan Architectural Foundation, “Arts and Crafts Haven: Cranbrook Educational Community,” published May 5, 2021, accessed March 23, 2023, https://michiganarchitecturalfoundation.org/arts-and-crafts-havencranbrook-educational community/
9. Carolyn Pitts, “Cranbrook,” National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, (Washington, DC: U.S Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1989).
10. Arthur Pound, The Only Thing Worth Finding, the Life and Legacies of George Gough Booth. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1964.