10/19/2026
A self guided tour of the Fisher Building. The stories inside this building have been here since 1928. You just need to start at the south entrance and slow down.
Stop 1: The South Entrance
Before you step inside, take a moment with the exterior. Albert Kahn clad the lower three floors in Minnesota granite and marble, rising to Maryland marble above. Every material chosen with intention before a single door was opened.
Then look at what sculptor Ulysses Ricci added. Bronze figures and eagles embedded in the stone, their surfaces turned blue-green with nearly a century of Detroit weather. Above the doors, intricate brass grilles announce the craftsmanship waiting inside.
Stop 2: The Elevators
Take a left from the south entrance. The first-floor south elevator doors carry ten embossed panels celebrating commerce, mining, agriculture, finance, arts, architecture, manufacturing, engineering, music, and chemistry. The entire ambition of a city surrounded by stunning marble from around the world.
Stop 3: The Mercury Medallion
Just before the main arcade, red ropes guard the bronze medallion set into the floor after nearly a hundred years of wear. It depicts Mercury, the Roman god of transportation and messages, alongside figures representing the four classical elements: air, earth, fire, and water.
Stop 4: The Mosaics
Stationed around the Mercury medallion, three original mosaics created by Géza Maróti are as beautiful as the day they were completed. Eagles and birds of paradise perch among hemlock branches, a Hungarian artistic motif Maróti brought from Central Europe that represented longevity and the cycle of nature. Pomegranates appear alongside them, an ancient symbol of abundance present in decorative art across thousands of years of human history. Every creature and every plant was chosen with intention. Nothing in this building exists purely for decoration.
Stop 5: The Frescoes
The barrel vaulted ceiling does not go unnoticed.
Designed by Hungarian artist Géza Maróti and painted by Antonio and Tomas de Lorenzo and their team, the arcade ceiling soars forty four feet overhead and rewards every person who slows down long enough to look. Figures pa