The General Motors Technical Center is a 710-acre campus located in Warren, Michigan, and it includes 38 buildings and can house over 21,000 employees. The site offers an advanced technology business atmosphere emphasizing flexibility, efficiency, innovation, quality, safety, and security. It includes 11 miles (18 km) of roads and 1.1 miles (1.8 km) of tunnels, 2 water towers as well as 2 lakes, one of which is at least 22-acre (89,000 m2). The lakes are used as emergency fire reservoirs in the event of a catastrophic fire.
One of the most remarkable buildings of this project is the Design Dome. This large indoor viewing auditorium gives the designers the opportunity to view their projects in an open space regardless of weather. This 180-foot diameter domed space was indirectly lighted to provide a shadowless environment for the evaluation of form and finish of vehicles. Since 1956, every GM product line has been presented to the leadership in the shadowless light of its interior display floor. More than sixty years later, the hemispherical form, modeled by Saarinen with a sliced tennis ball, remains perfect for its function, having been recently updated.
joaoslr says
The General Motors Technical Center is a 710-acre campus located in Warren, Michigan, and it includes 38 buildings and can house over 21,000 employees. The site offers an advanced technology business atmosphere emphasizing flexibility, efficiency, innovation, quality, safety, and security. It includes 11 miles (18 km) of roads and 1.1 miles (1.8 km) of tunnels, 2 water towers as well as 2 lakes, one of which is at least 22-acre (89,000 m2). The lakes are used as emergency fire reservoirs in the event of a catastrophic fire.
One of the most remarkable buildings of this project is the Design Dome. This large indoor viewing auditorium gives the designers the opportunity to view their projects in an open space regardless of weather. This 180-foot diameter domed space was indirectly lighted to provide a shadowless environment for the evaluation of form and finish of vehicles. Since 1956, every GM product line has been presented to the leadership in the shadowless light of its interior display floor. More than sixty years later, the hemispherical form, modeled by Saarinen with a sliced tennis ball, remains perfect for its function, having been recently updated.
More info: https://www.architectmagazine.com/technology/resurrecting-eero-saarinens-design-dome-at-general-motors_o
Photo source
Crossposted from /r/ModernistArchitecture