Cass Gilbert cladding a steel frame became the model for decades. Modernists embraced his work: John Marin painted it several times; even Frank Lloyd Wright praised the lines of the building, though he decried the ornamentation. Gilbert was one of the first celebrity architects in America, designing skyscrapers in New York City and Cincinnati, campus buildings at Oberlin College and the University of Texas at Austin, state capitols in Minnesota and West Virginia, the support towers of the George Washington Bridge, railroad stations (including the New Haven Union Station, 1920), and the United States Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C.. His reputation
Cass Building in a specially designed framing system that is almost invisible at first glance. The edges of the panes of glass comprise the wall abut giving the appearance of one sheet with no support. Four adjacent panes are fastened at their corners by an x-shaped bracket. The architectural firm relocated its offices in the early 1990s and the structure currently houses several employment agencies, daycare providers and Neighborhood Legal Services, which focus on meeting the needs of local Detroit residents. Detroit People Mover Station Fort/Cass is one-block east across Fort Street from the building and Cobo Center is one block south.