Architecture & design · 1910–1961Eero Saarinenarchitect, industrial designerFinnish-American architect who grew up at Cranbrook in Bloomfield Hills and ran his office there; his first masterpiece was the GM Technical Center in Warren.DETROIT / A living lexicon / ¼
Famous Detroiters
People who were born here, moved here or built their careers in Detroit: musicians, carmakers, athletes, writers, inventors, civil-rights leaders and a few notorious names. With their dates, their Detroit story and the places where they lived, worked and played, closed ones included.
- 664 famous people
- 66 Detroit places
- 21 fields
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8 people
Clear filtersArchitecture & design · 1910–1961Eero Saarinenarchitect, industrial designerFinnish-American architect who grew up at Cranbrook in Bloomfield Hills and ran his office there; his first masterpiece was the GM Technical Center in Warren.
Architecture & design · 1928–2024Fumihiko MakiarchitectJapanese Pritzker Prize–winning architect who earned his first master's degree at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills.
Architecture & design · 1907–1978Charles Eamesdesigner, architect, filmmakerAmerican designer who came to Cranbrook in 1938, began his furniture experiments there with Eero Saarinen and met his partner Ray Kaiser.
Architecture & design · 1912–1988Ray Eamesartist, designerAmerican artist and designer who studied at Cranbrook in 1940–41, where she met Charles Eames and began one of design history's great partnerships.
Architecture & design · 1917–2019Florence Knollarchitect, interior and furniture designerMichigan-born designer who grew up at Cranbrook's Kingswood School under the Saarinens' wing and went on to build Knoll into a modern furniture giant.
Visual art · 1915–1978Harry Bertoiasculptor, furniture and jewelry designerItalian-born artist who grew up in Detroit, studied at Cass Tech and Cranbrook, and later created the Diamond Chair and sounding sculptures.
Business & brands · 1924–2015A. Alfred Taubmanshopping-mall developer, owner of Sotheby's, philanthropistPontiac-born developer who helped define the American indoor shopping mall, owned Sotheby's and gave large sums to Detroit-area art and education.The lexicon keeps growing. Every entry lists its sources at the bottom. Dates were checked against Wikidata and Wikipedia. The texts are our own.