Cranbrook Academy of Art

Overview

Cranbrook Academy of Art is a prestigious graduate school of art, architecture, and design located in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Known as a leading institution for modernist design education, Cranbrook has trained many influential architects and designers. John Louis-Chan earned his Master’s degree in Architecture here after completing his undergraduate degree at the University of Houston.

Louis Chan’s Educational Path

Complete Trajectory

• Born: 1965 (Manila or Taiwan)
• Childhood: Taipei, Taiwan (1968-1990)
• High School: Taipei American School
• Undergraduate: University of Houston (scholarship)
• Graduate: Cranbrook Academy of Art (Master’s in Architecture)
• Career: Architect

Master’s Degree in Architecture

Program:

• Graduate-level architecture program
• Focused on design excellence
• Small, intimate program
• Studio-based learning
• Modernist tradition

Achievement:

• Completing rigorous graduate program
• Professional architecture credentials
• Specialized design education
• Highest level of architecture training

Cranbrook’s Prestige

Renowned Design School

History:

• Founded by newspaper magnate George Booth and architect Eliel Saarinen
• Campus designed by Eliel Saarinen
• Historic modernist architecture surrounding students
• Learning by living in architectural masterpieces

Philosophy:

• Learning by doing
• Master-apprentice model
• Small cohorts (intimate program)
• Integration of art, craft, and design
• Modernist design principles

Notable Alumni:

• Many Pulitzer Prize winners, MacArthur Fellows
• Influential architects and designers
• Louis joining prestigious lineage

Why Prestigious for Louis

Architecture Specialty:

• Not just any graduate school
• Cranbrook specifically for architecture = top-tier
• Small, selective program
• Prestigious credential in architecture field

Comparison:

• Rose: NYU Law (top 5 law school)
• Louis: Cranbrook Architecture (top architecture program)
• Both pursued elite graduate education
• Both in specialized professional fields

From Taiwan to Michigan

Geographic Journey

Louis’s Path:

1. Taipei, Taiwan (childhood, TAS)
2. Houston, Texas (undergraduate, UH)
3. Bloomfield Hills, Michigan (graduate, Cranbrook)
4. Current location? (to be documented)

Broadest Geographic Range:

• Sisters: California (Stanford), New York (NYU Law)
• Louis: Texas + Michigan (different regions)
• Most diverse American experience
• International student → multiple US regions

Cultural Experience

From Taipei to Cranbrook:

• International metropolis (Taipei)
• To oil boom city (Houston)
• To wealthy Detroit suburb (Bloomfield Hills)
• Experiencing different Americas
• Different from sisters’ coastal paths

Family Achievement

All Four Children’s Graduate Education

Highest Credentials:

• Rose: BA (Stanford) + JD (NYU Law)
• Meg: BA (Stanford)
• Louis: BA (Houston) + Master’s (Cranbrook Architecture)
• Michelle: BA (Whittier)

Two with Graduate Degrees:

• Rose and Louis both pursued graduate education
• Rose: Professional degree (law)
• Louis: Professional degree (architecture)
• Both in specialized credentialing fields

Jesse and Betty’s Investment

Full Success:

• All four to university (all with scholarships)
• Two to elite undergraduate (Stanford)
• Two to graduate/professional school
• Multiple career paths (law, economics, architecture, liberal arts)
• Professional success across the board

Validation:

• 22 years Taiwan work worth it
• Expensive TAS tuition ($10,000/year by 1986) justified
• Multiple businesses (nightclub, real estate, import/export, bakery) paid off
• Jesse sacrificing his own college → all four children with degrees
• Two with graduate degrees beyond Jesse’s dreams

Architecture as Profession

Professional Credentials

Architect Requirements:

• Undergraduate degree (UH)
• Graduate degree (Cranbrook) - often required
• Licensing exams
• Apprenticeship
• Louis fully credentialed professional

Comparison to Jesse:

• Jesse: Self-taught developer

  • “Real estate is really simple. You just look at the land and you like it, you just buy it. Then we build a house.”
  • Built Cherry Hill Development Taiwan and Houses on the Hill Taiwan
  • Practical, hands-on approach

• Louis: Formally trained architect

  • BA + Master’s from prestigious programs
  • Professional design education
  • Technical and artistic training
  • Credentialed professional

Next Generation Professionalization:

• Jesse’s practical building → Louis’s professional architecture
• Family skills formalized through education
• Generational advancement

Connection to Jesse’s Business

Did Jesse’s Real Estate Inspire Louis?

Possible Influences:

• Jesse developed multiple properties in Taiwan
• Rose remembered visiting construction sites with Jesse
• Dog Sugar guarded construction properties
• Children saw father building houses
• Louis may have been similarly exposed

From Observation to Profession:

• Seeing father’s construction sites as child
• Choosing architecture as career
• Formalizing with education
• Professional practice

Or Separate Path:

• May be coincidence
• Louis’s own interest in design
• Different from real estate development
• Architecture more artistic than development

Cranbrook’s Location: Bloomfield Hills

Wealthy Detroit Suburb:

• Cranbrook campus in affluent area
• Beautiful setting
• Different from urban campuses (NYU, UH)
• Campus as work of art itself

Late 1980s/Early 1990s:

• Detroit region in transition
• Architecture relevant for urban issues
• Design education in changing landscape

Legacy

Three Generations of Building

Generation 0 (Jesse):

• Self-taught real estate developer
• Built multiple properties in Taiwan
• Practical construction knowledge
• Entrepreneurial approach

Generation 1 (Louis):

• Professionally trained architect
• UH + Cranbrook credentials
• Artistic and technical expertise
• Credentialed professional

Generation 2:

• Louis’s children (if any)
• Benefiting from grandfather’s success and father’s profession
• Three generations from wartime survival to professional architecture

Research Questions

• Louis’s exact years at Cranbrook?
• Graduation year?
• Thesis or major project?
• Architecture career - where has he practiced?
• Notable projects or achievements?
• Where does Louis live now?
• Married to Iris Yamashita - when and where?
• Children?
• Still practicing architecture?
• Did Jesse’s building inspire Louis’s architecture career?
• Did Louis visit Jesse’s Taiwan properties?
• Connection between real estate development and architecture?