Why GM is irrelevant

One of my favorite architects is Eero Saarinen. He and his chief designer Kevin Roche helped to create some of the most important buildings of the 20th century. One of Saarinen’s first major buildings was the  General Motors Technical Center in Warren, Michigan.  Metropolis Magazine has a great story about this. There are many great photos of this project, just do a Google search (I do not want to violate copyright so they are not published here)

Why is this important? Because when GM commissioned Saarinen to design the technical center they made a statement that groundbreaking design was important and they invested the technical side. One can not underestimate the importance of this. The look to the future and the importance design set the tone for the company. Later on the finance people began to run GM and that is when the long decline began.  Instead of having Saarinen design a headquarters, which is the sign a company has reached it’s peak, they had him design a critical part of the machinery of the business the technical center. Can anyone imagine a car company doing this today? It is over.