Erik and Israel Nordin inherited their family's business, but not exactly the way most people expected it would happen.
The brothers used their family's Southwest Detroit-based steel business to put themselves through college. The two artists didn't have intentions to take on careers in those jobs, but instead bought the business' facility at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Junction Street. The 10,000-square-foot building, which comes complete with cranes, is now the home of the
Detroit Design Center.
"It gives us the freedom to mess around with the pieces we're making," says Erik Nordin.
The Detroit Design Center provides the space for the sculpture-based business. They have created outdoor sculptures that now appear in Brighton (six sculptures, three of which are permanent, Midtown (one in front of the Whitney restaurant), Birmingham (one) and Beverly Hills, among other areas of the region. They also designed the "D" ball that dropped over Campus Martius during New Years Eve.
"Every project we do is like exploring new territory," Erik Nordin says.
Source: Erik Nordin, partner at Detroit Design Center
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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