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
Lewis Cass Building facelift as of early 2009. Lewis Cass Building Lewis Cass Building is a state government office in downtown Lansing, Michigan named for territorial governor Lewis Cass. It is the Michigan state government's oldest standing office building. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places as "State Office Building" in 1984. The first state office building in Lansing was constructed in 1853; this was replaced with another building in 1872 and demolished the following year. By the 1910s, the state realized the need for a new office building, and funds were appropriated beginning in 1917 for a new