Alden B. Dow
"Leadership is essential in all human endeavors. While all efforts start with some facts... they end up with personal interpretations. Otherwise, there would be no progress beyond presently known facts. Any step forward, any creative effort, is bound to include the personal interpretation."

Photograph courtesy of the Alden B. Dow Archives.

abdGardenAlden B Dow (1904-1983) was born in Midland, Michigan on April 10, 1904, the son of Grace A. and Herbert Henry Dow, founder of The Dow Chemical Company. He studied mechanical engineering at the University of Michigan and earned a degree in architecture from Columbia University in 1931.

During the summer of 1933, young Mr. Dow studied and worked with Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin in Wisconsin. In Wright, he found a kindred spirit. Their sharing of interests strengthened Mr. Dow's own work and philosophy.

Returning to Midland, he opened his own architectural offices in a studio/home of his own design. Today the firm is known as Dow-Howell-Gilmore Associates, Inc.

During his career, Mr. Dow was commissioned to design homes, churches, schools, college campuses, business complexes, art and civic centers...and one entire town! His residences, which were especially appealing to the aesthetically sensitive, earned him 60 commissions in Midland, Michigan, as well as numerous others across the United States.

Among his many awards and honors, Mr. Dow received the 1937 Diplome de Grand Prix for residential architecture. He was named a Fellow in the American Institute of Architects in 1957. Northwood University conferred an honorary doctorate on him in 1969. in 1983, crowning the achievements of his 50 year career, Mr. Dow was named architect laureate of his home state of Michigan.

Alden B. Dow maintained a lifelong interest in creativity. His selection in 1982 as the first recipient of the Frank Lloyd Wright Creativity Award reflects this enduring commitment.

Writings on Creativity By Alden B. Dow

  • "An Architect's View on Creativity." in Creativity and its Cultivation. Harold H. Anderson (Ed.) New York: Harper and Row, 1959 30-43
  • "Appreciating Architecture." in Appreciating the Nine Fine. William G. Harkey (Ed.) Midland: Northwood Press, 1977 17-37
  • Reflections: Midland: Northwood Press, 1970