Future Interior of the Past: An Air Terminal Comes of Age at Detroit-Willow Run
Level 4 - case-series / case-control
Historical single-case study (graded by design analogy, not clinical CEBM).
OpenAlex W4413031584 · doi:10.7454/in.v8i2.1133
What was done
The author conducted an architectural and historical case analysis of the Willow Run airfield in Ypsilanti, Michigan. The paper examines the post-World War II adaptive reuse of an Albert Kahn-designed hangar into a provisional passenger air terminal, focusing on the 1955 interior renovation by Yamasaki, Leinweber and Associates (led by Manfredi Nicoletti under Minoru Yamasaki) commissioned to retain commercial airlines.
What was found
The abstract contains no quantitative metrics or statistical data. It describes the design intervention—specifically a suspended ceiling of plastic coffers—and notes that despite formal experimentation, the repurposed terminal could not avert eventual obsolescence against newer facilities like Detroit-Wayne Major Airport.
Why it matters
This study documents postwar American architectural experimentation and the challenges of adapting large-scale wartime industrial infrastructure for mid-century civilian aviation.
Limits
The work is a non-comparative historical case study of a single site. It provides descriptive architectural history rather than generalizable empirical data, performance metrics, or passenger flow evaluations.
Cited by
- supports During World War II, the Ford manufacturing plant in Detroit produced B-24 Liberator bombers at a rate of one per hour.