AlbertAlbert Kahn is synonymous with the automobile industry and the growth of Detroit. His Detroit-based firm, founded in 1895, designed such iconic buildings as the Packard Plant, the Fisher Building, and Temple Beth-El, in addition to countless industrial structures in Michigan and across the United States.
But in the spring of 1929, on the eve of the Great Depression, Albert Kahn Associates was contracted to design the Stalingrad Tractor Plant, the first facility of its kind in the Soviet Union. That project led to a much larger contract for the firm to consult on industrial construction across the Soviet Union and the establishment of a satellite design office in Moscow from 1930 to 1932.
One could argue that without Albert Kahn, the Soviet Union would have struggled to execute its ambitious building projects. At the very least, it would have taken longer to become an industrial powerhouse.
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