Pioneer Architecture Alden B. Dow

PROJECTS

During his 50 year career in architecture, Alden Dow designed over 560 projects not only in the state of Michigan but also throughout the United States. Whether designing homes for the individual or the family, work spaces for industry, worship spaces for religious communities, or schools and civic buildings, Alden Dow believed the architect always played an important role in creating harmony between people, materials and ideas. Good architecture responds to the land and its culture. In 1944, Alden Dow said, “I have no idea what my next design for a building will look like, but I do know it will not look anything like the one I have just completed, and that is not because of me, but because of the individual or individuals that are going to use the next building.”

The progressive climate of the pre and post war years encouraged Alden Dow’s interest in new technology, new materials and innovative designs. His buildings combined the functional with imagination and creativity. For five decades, Alden Dow successfully pioneered architectural designs that are still timely today.

In The Archives

Alden B. Dow

Nease Memorial Church of the Nazarene by Alden B. Dow

On January 29, 1961, the Nease Memorial Church of the Nazarene was organized with 40 charter members. The congregation chose a flat, barren 4.5 acre site on the western edge of Midland, Michigan for its first church and purchased the land for the sum of $10,850. Upon the recommendation of

Alden B. Dow Archive

The Midland, Michigan Farmers Market by Alden B. Dow

The first discussion about the design of a structure to cover farmers selling their produce in the open parking lot at the foot of Ashman Street took place in March 1973. Those meeting notes describe a simple roof structure, 160 feet long by 30 feet wide, to be supported by

Alden B Dow Home and Studio

The Chippewa Nature Center’s Interpretive Building by Alden B. Dow

As early as 1965, the long-range plan for the Center called for a building with a museum, library, auditorium, classroom, workshop and related facilities. In 1970, three years after the completion of the Nature Observatory, Mr. Dow prepared a preliminary sketch for a building on the bluff overlooking the Chippewa

Alden B Dow Home and Studio

The Chippewa Nature Center’s Nature Study Building by Alden B. Dow

The Nature Observatory (Nature Study Building) The inspiration to establish a place for the study of the natural environment in the Midland area first came to the members of the Midland Nature Club in 1963. Their search for a building and sanctuary site led them in 1965 to property at