Motor City Renaissance: Architecture, Innovation, and Creative Transformation Study Tour

“Detroit is booming… the city’s revitalization – its design-forward architecture and new shopping, restaurants, and cultural spaces – generate an energy that is palpable.”  – The New York Times, July 30, 2025

Reinvigorated by new residents, investment, and imagination, 21st century Motor City is a welcoming cultural destination, and we invite you to experience some of its attractions with us in June.

Highlights will include an afternoon at the Cranbrook Educational Campus, with its schools, galleries, and homes by architects including Eliel Saarinen, Albert Kahn, and Steven Holl; a private visit to the Ford Motor Company’s historic River Rouge assembly complex; an owner-led tour of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Turkel House, which is not usually open to visitors; and an appraisal of Michigan Central Station’s billion dollar transformation.

We will also explore local gems such as the iconic Detroit Institute of Arts, the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation, dazzling historic lobbies, the 1907 Pewabic Pottery studio and nearby Shepherd Arts Center, and Belle Isle, with its freshly renovated Conservatory and Aquarium, as well as its lush Piet Oudolf garden, which opened in 2024. 

Detroit-based historian, writer, and tour guide Jacob Jones will accompany us, sharing the broader story of the city’s industry, history, culture, and community. We will stay at the historic, newly renovated Hotel David Whitney in the heart of downtown; all destinations are conveniently located within 30 minutes of the hotel. Both first-time and repeat Detroit visitors will find new pleasures in this uplifting visit to a city on the rise.

To place your name on an interest list for this study tour, please email [email protected] or call (713) 666-9000.