Architecture of the Clements Library

In 1922, noted Detroit architect Albert Kahn (1869-1942) designed the Clements Library in the Italian Renaissance style, based on Vignola's casino for the Villa Farnese, ca.1587, in Caprarola, Italy (above).

In Kahn's plan (right), the casino, a one-story building, was enlarged to two stories, the roof flattened, the windows lengthened, and an elegant triple-arched entrance created. Finally, Kahn further ornamented the limestone exterior with relief sculpture and inlaid marble, the whole resulting in a building of extraordinary beauty and architectural coherence.

The interior of the Library is dominated by a grand exhibition hall with a high vaulted ceiling, symmetrical alcoves, and a second-story balcony. The oak-paneled walls of the main room are lined with bookcases, and the public rooms on the first floor are richly decorated with neo-classical details in carved wood, painted plaster, and marble. The fine craftsmanship seen throughout the building reflects the skill of master contractor Henry L. Van der Horst of Kalamazoo, Mich., in executing Kahn's design.

Originally intended as the primary reading room in the Library, the exhibition hall never actually saw service in that capacity, however it has always retained its function as the primary public space in the Library. Today the main room serves as the primary exhibition space, and is used on a regular basis to host public lectures and special receptions for the Library and its friends' group, the Clements Library Associates. Exhibits are open to the public between 12 and 4:45 PM, Monday through Friday, and by special arrangement through Reader Services.

Directly off the main exhibition hall is the "rare book room," an elegant space enclosed by massive, carved oak doors framed with dark green, veined marble. In addition to housing some of the treasures of the Library, the rare book room contains portraits of William L. Clements and each of the Directors of the Clements Library, Randolph G. Adams, Howard Peckham, and John C. Dann.

At the end of a brilliant career, with buildings to his credit as diverse as the Ford Motor Company's River Rouge Plant and the skyscraper General Motors Building in Detroit, Kahn said that he wanted most to be remembered for the Clements Library.

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