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
Metropolitan Building (Minneapolis) Mix designed the building, and it is considered to be his most notable achievement. Many of the city's most prestigious companies had offices in the Metropolitan. When it went up, the building was owned by the Northwestern Guaranty Loan Company. Louis F. Menage, founder, had gained a fortune while speculating on real estate in the Minneapolis area in the 1880s. He spent $1 million on the project. Many hailed the building when it was first completed, although some such as Cass Gilbert did not like the style. The Panic of 1893 caused Menage's company to collapse, and he fled the