Upjohn’s Building 88

In 1961, construction was completed on two remarkable structures in Kalamazoo, both designed by the architectural firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. One was the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, based on a design by architect Mies van der Rohe and expanded in 1994 to become the structure we occupy today. The other was the Upjohn Company’s Building 88, designed by Bruce Graham and razed in 2007.

During this ArtBreak talk, learn more about the innovative design elements that made Building 88 unique with Dr. Christine Hahn, Professor of Art History at Kalamazoo College. Dr. Hahn argues that Building 88 represents one of the country’s earliest examples of the open office movement. In both its interior and exterior design, Building 88 blurred the lines between work and home, marrying together notions of modern domesticity with the new executive workplace.