Cass Gilbert Gilbert was a conservative who believed architecture should reflect historic traditions and the established social order. His design of the new Supreme Court building (1935), with its classical lines and small size, contrasted sharply with the large federal buildings going up along the National Mall in Washington, D.C., which he disliked. Heilbrun says "Gilbert's pioneering buildings injected vitality into skyscraper design, and his 'Gothic skyscraper,' epitomized by the Woolworth Building, profoundly influenced architects during the first decades of the twentieth century." Christen and Flanders note that his reputation among architectural critics went into eclipse during the age of modernism, but
Cass Building Cass Building The Cass Building is a low-rise office building at 455 West Fort Street, at the southeast corner of First Street, in Detroit, Michigan. It is also known as Detroit's Work Place. The building was designed in 1910 by the architectural firm of Smith, Hinchman and Grylls as a warehouse on the western edge of the city's central business district. In 1972, the reinforced concrete building was purchased by the firm and remodeled as its new headquarters. The structure was stripped to its shell and new exterior walls constructed. The north and west facades were covered with tinted glass