00:00The Renaissance Center, commonly known as the Renssen, is a complex of seven connected
00:12skyscrapers in downtown Detroit, Michigan, United States.
00:16The Renaissance Center complex is on the Detroit International Riverfront and is owned and
00:20used by General Motors as its world headquarters.
00:23The Central Tower has been the tallest building in Michigan since its completion in 1977.
00:29John Portman was the principal architect for the concept design, with the complex seeming
00:34to be an aesthetically architectural sibling of the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in California
00:38completed a year earlier.
00:40The first phase consisted of a five-tower rosette rising from a common base.
00:45Four 39-story office towers surround the 73-story hotel rising from a square podium that includes
00:51a shopping center, restaurants, brokers, and banks.
00:55The first phase officially opened in March 1977.
00:59Portman's design brought renewed attention to city architecture since it resulted in
01:02the construction of the world's tallest hotel at the time.
01:06Two additional 21-story office towers, known as Tower 500 and Tower 600, opened in 1981.
01:13This type of complex has been termed a city within a city.
01:16In 2004, General Motors completed a US$500 million renovation of the Class A Center as
01:22its world headquarters, which it had purchased in 1996.
01:26The renovation included the addition of the five-story Wintergarden Atrium, which provides
01:31access to the International Riverfront.
01:34Architects for the renovation included Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Gensler, Smith Group, and
01:39Ghaffari Associates.
01:41Work continued in and around the complex until 2005.
01:44Renaissance Center totals 5,552,000 square feet, making it one of the world's largest
01:50commercial complexes.
01:52The idea was first conceived by Henry Ford II, the Ford Motor Company chairman of the
01:56time.
01:58In 1970, to bring his idea to life, Ford teamed up with other business leaders to form the
02:03Detroit Renaissance.
02:05This was a private non-profit development organization that Ford headed to stimulate
02:09building activity and revitalize the economy of Detroit.
02:13Henry Ford II sold the concept of the Rensan to the city and community leaders.
02:18Detroit Mayor Roman Gribbs touted the project as a complete rebuilding from bridge to bridge.
02:23Referring to the area between the Ambassador Bridge, which connects Detroit to Windsor,
02:27Ontario, and the MacArthur Bridge, which connects the city with Belle Isle Park.
02:32The Detroit Renaissance announced the first phase of construction in 1971, receiving primary
02:37financing from the Ford Motor Company.
02:40It soon became the world's largest private development with an anticipated 1971 cost
02:44of $500 million.
02:47The principal architect was John Portman, the architect behind the Westin Peachtree
02:51Plaza Hotel and the Peachtree Center in Atlanta, Georgia, the Embarcadero Center in San Francisco,
02:57California, and the Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles, California.
03:01The city within a city arose.
03:03The first phase of Renaissance Center opened on July 1, 1976.
03:08For phase one, the facade of the first five towers was covered with 2 million square feet
03:13of glass and used about 400,000 cubic yards of concrete.
03:17This did not include the additional glass used for the atriums.
03:20It also cost $337 million to construct, employing 7,000 workers.
03:26The heating and cooling systems for the buildings were housed in two-story concrete berms facing
03:30Jefferson Avenue.
03:32Other phases that included residences, additional offices and retail space were never constructed.
03:38When the Renaissance Center opened, the cylindrical central tower was originally the flagship
03:42of Westin Hotels.
03:44The top three floors of the hotel hosted an upscale restaurant, The Summit, that rotated
03:48to allow a 360-degree view.
03:51The shopping center in the podium originally housed high-end boutiques, but now contains
03:55a greater complement of restaurants in the retail mix.
03:59That is all.
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