Northern High School

by Jeff Bondono, copyright (c) 2022 by Jeff Bondono, last updated December 2, 2022

Northern High School (now Detroit International Academy for Young Women), at 9026 Woodward Avenue, about 1 mile north of Grand Blvd. in Detroit, was designed by Wirt Rowland in 1914 while he was working for the firm of Malcomson & Higginbotham. For the high school design he re-used some of the ideas that first appeared on Hill Auditorium, such as the large windows in the front separated by light-colored pillars, and framed by brickwork. Separating the windows from the brick is a border of terra-cotta decoration in a buff color which complements the brick, though one especially decorative band (3rd photo below) has a blue background.

The total cost of the school at the time of construction was $650,000, and Rowland somehow convinced the school board to pay an additional $2500 for the 'Flemish Bond' brickwork in which every other brick is laid narrow end out, easily see in the 3rd and 4th photos below. The ground floor brickwork is quite ornate, with bricks running vertically instead of horizontally across the top of the windows and doors, and a triangular transition between the horizontal and vertical bricks. The separation between the second and third floor windows is sometimes alternating light and dark metal plates, each with what looks like ornamental wrought-iron fencing on top of them (5th photo below), and sometimes brickwork with a diamond-shaped spandrel of an open book illuminated by a torch (6th photo below). The overlapping zig-zag patterns used in the eave would be used as an Art Deco design more than a decade later.

    
Northern High School, Detroit, Michigan: Located on Woodward Avenue 1 mile north of Grand Blvd, Detroit's Northern High School was opened January 29, 1917. Designed by Wirt Rowland in 1914 while with the firm of Malcomson & Higginbotham, the school resembles Hill Auditorium on the campus of the University of Michigan, designed by Rowland several years earlier. The building's unusual design (for a high school) attracted the interest of the architectural community. Photos of the school were featured in The American Architect in January 1922. The pattern used in the eave - overlapping zig-zags - would become popular more than a decade later as an Art Deco design. The bricks are set in 'Flemish Bond' - every other brick is set narrow end out.
    
Northern High School, Detroit, Michigan: Located on Woodward Avenue 1 mile north of Grand Blvd, Detroit's Northern High School was opened January 29, 1917. Designed by Wirt Rowland in 1914 while with the firm of Malcomson & Higginbotham, the school resembles Hill Auditorium on the campus of the University of Michigan, designed by Rowland several years earlier. The building's unusual design (for a high school) attracted the interest of the architectural community. Photos of the school were featured in The American Architect in January 1922. The pattern used in the eave - overlapping zig-zags - would become popular more than a decade later as an Art Deco design. The bricks are set in 'Flemish Bond' - every other brick is set narrow end out.
    
Northern High School, Detroit, Michigan: Located on Woodward Avenue 1 mile north of Grand Blvd, Detroit's Northern High School was opened January 29, 1917. Designed by Wirt Rowland in 1914 while with the firm of Malcomson & Higginbotham, the school resembles Hill Auditorium on the campus of the University of Michigan, designed by Rowland several years earlier. The building's unusual design (for a high school) attracted the interest of the architectural community. Photos of the school were featured in The American Architect in January 1922. The pattern used in the eave - overlapping zig-zags - would become popular more than a decade later as an Art Deco design. The bricks are set in 'Flemish Bond' - every other brick is set narrow end out.
    
Northern High School, Detroit, Michigan: Located on Woodward Avenue 1 mile north of Grand Blvd, Detroit's Northern High School was opened January 29, 1917. Designed by Wirt Rowland in 1914 while with the firm of Malcomson & Higginbotham, the school resembles Hill Auditorium on the campus of the University of Michigan, designed by Rowland several years earlier. The building's unusual design (for a high school) attracted the interest of the architectural community. Photos of the school were featured in The American Architect in January 1922. The pattern used in the eave - overlapping zig-zags - would become popular more than a decade later as an Art Deco design. The bricks are set in 'Flemish Bond' - every other brick is set narrow end out.
    
Northern High School, Detroit, Michigan: Located on Woodward Avenue 1 mile north of Grand Blvd, Detroit's Northern High School was opened January 29, 1917. Designed by Wirt Rowland in 1914 while with the firm of Malcomson & Higginbotham, the school resembles Hill Auditorium on the campus of the University of Michigan, designed by Rowland several years earlier. The building's unusual design (for a high school) attracted the interest of the architectural community. Photos of the school were featured in The American Architect in January 1922. The pattern used in the eave - overlapping zig-zags - would become popular more than a decade later as an Art Deco design. The bricks are set in 'Flemish Bond' - every other brick is set narrow end out.
    
Northern High School, Detroit, Michigan: Located on Woodward Avenue 1 mile north of Grand Blvd, Detroit's Northern High School was opened January 29, 1917. Designed by Wirt Rowland in 1914 while with the firm of Malcomson & Higginbotham, the school resembles Hill Auditorium on the campus of the University of Michigan, designed by Rowland several years earlier. The building's unusual design (for a high school) attracted the interest of the architectural community. Photos of the school were featured in The American Architect in January 1922. The pattern used in the eave - overlapping zig-zags - would become popular more than a decade later as an Art Deco design. The bricks are set in 'Flemish Bond' - every other brick is set narrow end out.
    
Northern High School, Detroit, Michigan: Located on Woodward Avenue 1 mile north of Grand Blvd, Detroit's Northern High School was opened January 29, 1917. Designed by Wirt Rowland in 1914 while with the firm of Malcomson & Higginbotham, the school resembles Hill Auditorium on the campus of the University of Michigan, designed by Rowland several years earlier. The building's unusual design (for a high school) attracted the interest of the architectural community. Photos of the school were featured in The American Architect in January 1922. The pattern used in the eave - overlapping zig-zags - would become popular more than a decade later as an Art Deco design. The bricks are set in 'Flemish Bond' - every other brick is set narrow end out.

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