GM Renaissance Center in Detroit, Michigan

Owned by General Motors, the 5.5 million square foot Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit, Michigan is also GM's world headquarters. The complex is made up of two connected 21-story offices towers, four 39-story office towers, and a central 73-story hotel that rises out of a massive lobby containing shops, restaurants, and communal space. 

The Renaissance Center is often referred to as a "city within a city" and features elevated walkways, expansive windows, and rounded concrete balconies within a massive eight-story central atrium lobby. When completed in 1977, the central hotel was the tallest all-hotel building in the world. Today it still holds the record as the tallest hotel in the western hemisphere. As it stands, the RenCen is clearly the icon of modern downtown Detroit. 

Renaissance Center construction ca. 1970s

Windsor, Ontario just across the river from Detroit.

Frank's Diner in Spokane, Washington

The next time you're in downtown Spokane, Washington grab breakfast at Frank's Diner. This cool little restaurant is located inside an old presidential train car, and it's a great opportunity to rub elbows with your neighbors - literally! Mike and I stopped here before heading out to Seattle to officially get our Pacific road trip underway. The food was amazing, and in my opinion there's no beating a restaurant that also comes with this much original character.

A Few Short Days in Calgary, Alberta

Earlier this week I was in Calgary, Alberta to do a video shoot for an ongoing production that I've been involved with for the last few months. In addition to that, the trip became an excuse to capture a bit more of the city for my Around Alberta travel photography series. For as often as I feel like I've been in Calgary recently, I quickly realized that there was a lot that I hadn't really explored in years - especially around downtown.

From the Wonderland sculpture at the Bow to Fort Calgary, I did my best to cover some of the most iconic spots in the city's core. My Instagram feed became fairly Calgary-centric in that time, and a shot I posted of the Calgary Tower was even featured by Tourism Calgary a few days later. It was a lot of fun rediscovering a place so close to home. 

Standing on the glass floor at the Calgary Tower.

As for the video shoot, I was capturing footage at Streamline, a company that utilizes foam cutting technology to produce everything from large scale sculptures to movie props to theme park characters at Disneyland. This project is part of a collaboration between Medalta and the Medicine Hat College, in which I've been shooting a video about how the technology can be used in other applications, such as ceramics. 

A photo posted by Luke Fandrich (@editingluke) on Feb 10, 2016 at 12:08pm PST

It was really interesting to see the cutting in action and I came away with some nice shots. I've said it before, but one of the coolest things about the work I do is getting the opportunity to meet so many talented people and see behind the scenes of some pretty unique places. This was no exception, and the time I had exploring Calgary was a nice bonus.