As the manager of the GM Design Archive and Special Collections, Skarsgard has been collecting ephemera from the history of the Technical Center. She's amassed an incredible array of photographs, newspaper articles, and marketing materials from when the Center first opened in the 1950s. The caption accompanying this image reads: "A view of the patio and pool contributes to precision engineering"—a statement that reflects GM's desire to provide inspirational surroundings for its employees. Saarinen considered every element of the project in is design, including the machinery's color when planning the interior schemes.

The Absent ColumnIt's been a tough year for Brutalist buildings and Nathan Eddy explores the preservation controversy surrounding Bertrand Goldberg's Prentice Women's hospital, a 1970s building in Chicago slated for demolition.

Completed in 2007, the Infanta Leonor Hospital in Madrid was conceived as a model for the "Hospital of the 21st Century"—incorporating a "healing architecture" that prioritized the needs and well-being of patients. Photo courtesy of Luis Vidal + Architects.

Mami and Goo the Kishu dog return from a frolic in the forest, which the couple, along with Hideaki, has thinned and trimmed back over many weekends. It’s an idyllic escape and a world away from the concrete expanse of Tokyo.

Keiko and Taku Shinomoto have two simple rules for their store: that the items come from Japan and that they have been well made by artisans. Just off busy Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice, California, the shop carries homewares such as Kaikado metal tea canisters.

Interior of Connecticut General Office The design of this office was one of Florence Knoll’s greatest achievements, according to Cubed author Nikil Saval. “It was the peak of a totally organized, thought-through corporate space. It made an insurance company, a paperwork factory, look good, and kept people there.”

Tucked behind Tortoise General Store is Tortoise, a gallery-like setting where designs from Ryota Aoki, Hiroto Nakanishi, and Masanobu Ando are on display.

General Electric produced this clock.

Timothy Beatley, a professor of sustainable communities at the University of Virginia, says hospitals should be community centers. "[Khoo Teck Phuat Hospital in Singapore] makes me hopeful because it shows how healthcare facilities can be designed to include nature," he says. "While there is no recorded evidence, my gut feeling is that this building does heal. This is a hospital people want to be in."

Palomar West Hospital by Marie Goulet.

The Hospital Can Misses in Ibiza, Spain. Photo courtesy of Luis Vidal + Architects.

Murphy revealed that the masons had become so adept at their handiwork upon completing the fourth wall of the hospital’s façade, they wanted to redo their earlier work. Photo provided by MASS Design Group.

Local labor seen at work on the Bhutaro Hospital. Photo provided by MASS Design Group.

"Walking past the suspended stairs in our lobby at GM Design, or seeing the giant 'wall of water' on the lake for the first time in spring, or the blue skies over the colored brick in the evening...it's a daily reminder that good design is important and impactful and lasting," Skarsgard says.

The cafeteria in the Research building was outfitted with furniture of Saarinen's design. Though the center was completed over 50 years ago, it remains symbolic of what the company strives to stand for today. "Since the opening of the General Motors Technical Center in 1956, this campus is still, and again, the place where the future products of this company are being invented," Skarsgard says. "And just as we are continually influenced and inspired by the undeniable legacy of General Motors in the history of American design, this campus and everything it symbolizes, lays a fertile ground for future innovation and discovery."

The coolest finds, Kevin says, are vintage McIntosh amplifiers. The stock changes frequently—"We get new furniture from Ellen every week or so," he says—so it's worth regular visits to for an ever-evolving walkthrough.

"Our house is exactly like this, only smaller," Kevin says.

The shop has something for everyone: furniture, lights, ceramics, glass, clothing, books, and music. "The guys go straight for the stereos," Kevin says.

The windows are Anderson100 Fibrex Windows.

The Mowhawk General Store + Amsterdam Modern is located at 4011 West Sunset Boulevard in the Sunset Junction neighborhood of Los Angeles.

The creative couple—Kevin also owns and runs Generic Man and Bo has a background in fashion marketing—partnered with Ellen LeComte of Amsterdam Modern for the move to the new location. “It’s not the normal mid-century stuff,” Kevin says. “It’s things most people here haven’t seen before.”

Kevin describes the shop—and its ever-evolving and rotating inventory—as “a public gallery of where we’re at in architecture, fashion, and music.”

In 2008, Kevin and Bo Carney launched Mohawk General Store on Los Angeles's Mohawk Street. Two years later they moved to the heart of Sunset Junction. "We've created a big living room for people," Kevin says.

Weaving by New York–based Brook&Lyn.

Up next, Kevin and Bo hope to create more specialty pieces with designers. "It’d be a creative outlet for us and another reason for everyone else to check out our store," he says. Visit Mohawk General Store in person at 4011 West Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, or online at mohawkgeneralstore.net. Don't miss a word of Dwell! Download our FREE app from iTunes, friend us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter!

The Styling dome on the campus of General Motors’ Technical Center is 188 feet wide and 65 feet tall. At just three-eighths of an inch thick, the structure’s aluminum skin is proportionately thinner than an eggshell.

Kevin Carney, Bo Carney, and Ellen LeComte of Mohawk General Store and Amsterdam Modern.

This was a typical ward at Kanakee State Hospital in Kanakee, Illinois.

Ryan Anderson of RAD Furniture designed the stools as well as the table and benches on the pool deck.

The oversize hearth (of which there is an outdoor double) was part of the original design specifications. “Ben said he wanted a fireplace big enough to cook a wild boar,” says Mark Anderson of Anderson and Anderson.

Saarinen designed the interior spaces with flexibility in mind. By avoiding the use of many interior columns, he allowed GM to easily adapt and change the buildings' layout to accommodate changing needs. In the Research building's lobby, a dramatic staircase—one of Saarinen's specialties—provides the architectural focal point.

"Earl convinced them that the architecture itself should reflect the importance of style and advanced engineering at GM," Skarsgard says. "Kettering argued that he wanted 'solid, functional buildings that don’t detract from what we do inside them...we don’t need fancy.' Earl responded 'Ket, I don’t want fancy, I want significant....we are going to be the guys who shape the future. I think these buildings should give out that feeling to the press and the customers and to our employees. Don’t put ‘em in a bank, Ket!'"

When the Technical Center was built in the 1950s, it symbolized the core ethos of General Motors. "The initial idea to build a new technical center focused on advanced and innovative product development for General Motors began with Alfred Sloan & Charles Kettering," says Susan Skarsgard, manager of GM Design Archive and Special Collections. "Sloan was the long-time president, chairman, and CEO of GM from the 1920s through the 1950s—decades when concepts such as the annual model change, brand architecture, and automotive design (styling) transformed the automotive industry in America and throughout the world. Charles Kettering, the celebrated American inventor, engineer, businessman, and the holder of 186 patents, headed up research for GM from 1920 to 1947."

The campus features low-slung buildings oriented around a lake. Steel, aluminum, glass curtain walls, and colored glazed brick end walls make up the campus's material language. "Sloan approached Kettering in 1944 with the idea to build a new product development campus, but initially they did not have any preconceived ideas about the architectural design of the campus," Skarsgard explains. "However, the influential chief of GM Styling, Harley Earl, engaged a reticent Sloan and Kettering to consider this project as an opportunity to do something significant with the architectural design of the project."

This photo shows the demolition of the Danvers State Hospital in Danvers, Massachusetts.