Architecture & design
Louis Kamper
1861–1953 · architect
German-born architect who remade Washington Boulevard for the Book brothers, designing the Book Tower, the Book-Cadillac Hotel and the Broderick Tower.
- Born
Bavaria, Germany- Died
aged 91- Detroit years
- 1888–1953
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Kamper trained in Germany and worked in New York before settling in Detroit in the late 1880s, where he first made his name with lavish houses, among them the château-style Colonel Frank J. Hecker House on Woodward Avenue. His great opportunity came in the 1910s and 1920s, when the Book brothers set out to turn Washington Boulevard into Detroit's Fifth Avenue and hired him to redesign its whole street front. He answered with the Book Building (1916), the 1,000-room Book-Cadillac Hotel (1924), once the tallest hotel in the world, and the 38-story Book Tower (1926), crowned with a copper roof and ringed by caryatids. He also designed the Eaton Tower, now the Broderick Tower, the Water Board Building and the Park Avenue Hotel. Several of his towers stood empty for decades, but the Book-Cadillac reopened in 2008, the Broderick in 2012 and the Book Tower in 2023, restoring his skyline.
Highlights
- Book-Cadillac Hotel (1924), reopened in 2008 as the Westin Book Cadillac
- Book Tower (1926), reopened in 2023 after a $300 million renovation
- Broderick (Eaton) Tower (1928) overlooking Grand Circus Park
- Colonel Frank J. Hecker House on Woodward Avenue
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 4
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Worked here · 1925–1926
Kamper's Rooftop Lounge
His copper-crowned tower, empty from 2009, reopened in 2023 with apartments, a hotel, shops and restaurants.
Worked here · 1924
Book-Cadillac Hotel
His grand hotel, closed in 1984 and reopened in 2008; the four figures over the Michigan Avenue entrance are Wayne, Cadillac, Pontiac and Navarre.
Worked here · 1928
Broderick Tower (former Eaton Tower)
His office tower on Grand Circus Park, long vacant and converted to apartments in 2012.
Worked here · 1924
Park Avenue Hotel
Demolished
His hotel near Cass Park, demolished in 2015 during construction of the new arena district.