Michigan State Medical Society Building, 120 W. Saginaw Hwy. (1961) NR

Michigan State Medical Society Building, south façade, December 2004. While the north elevation with its beautifully complimentary landscaping and tiered entry stairs is the more interesting view, the low winter sun was not cooperating that day. Photo Credit: Kevin S. Forsyth.

The Michigan State Medical Society was established in 1866 “to elevate professional and medical education and to cultivate the advancement of medical science.” Among its early presidents was Professor Robert C. Kedzie.

After nearly a century of itinerant existence in various rental properties at Detroit and (later) Lansing, in 1959 the society commissioned famed architect Minoru Yamasaki to design a new, permanent headquarters building. The building's tall, slender columns, distinctive semi-cylindrical cast-concrete roof, and airy, functional interior spaces make this a gem of the Mid-Century Modern style, and one that is fairly unique among Yamasaki designs. It was completed in 1961, and the building remains the society’s home to this day. A detached addition, also by the Yamasaki firm, was built in 1979.

The original building was added to the state historic register in 1994, and the national historic register in 2011.