Detroit

Friday, March 1, my studio and I set out to Detroit for a site visit.....

Much of the rundown sections of Detroit are exactly as the pictures show:  vacant lots, lots with debris-filled foundations, burned out shells of homes, occupied homes that shouldn't be occupied, homes that are well-kept amidst all of this.

 

 

Visiting the waterfront, I was pleased to see people out ice-fishing in such a non-traditional location.  Ice fishing is a dedicated sport; people that ice-fish share a quality of tenaciousness, determination and appreciation for the art of enjoying one's self amongst mediocre surroundings.  It is very appropriate that it is this type of people are occupying Detroit.  The "don't you tell us no" attitude is great ammunition when aimed in the right direction.  Can this spirit be utilized if these people are given a good housing situation in which to begin rebuilding their lives?  What can we offer them to initiate this change?

 As a beacon of hope (or a beacon of resentment) stands the GM building.  Being an architecture student living in Boston (though from Michigan), do I have a skewed perspective of the GM building?  Perhaps those that have suffered living in Detroit feel it's a reminder of how/why/who made it all go badly? 

In comparison, are there other beacons that encourage hopefulness?  At the very successful Mies van der Rhoe Lafayette Park complex, it is obvious that the tenants appreciate the effort and design of the complex and work hard to maintain it and it's legacy.  The success of the park is due to a number of factors.  Can these factors influence my design and site to help my housing complex be so successful?  What are these factors?

Community can bee seen in some places in Detroit.  Here at Detroit's Eastern Market, everyone comes together to buy meats, produce, plants and other goods.  The space is cheerful, high-energy and welcoming.  The surrounding blocks are a haven for young businesses that specialize in such things as BBQ and traditional printing presses.  Is it the location of these "hot spots" relative to each other that makes them so successful?  Perhaps the simple meeting of needs is what makes them so successful?

The potential of Detroit as a manufacturing city is amazing.  It's like finding an abandoned garage full of tool and dye and stock steel pieces.  Some of it's rusted beyond use, but the rest is so well made at the beginning that it can still serve a function.  Great things can be created if the potential of the tools can be harnessed by someone that knows how to use them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





 

The paper ball above, to me, represents Detroit well:  a collection of similar parts with similar wants...but to be successful as a whole, we need to weave and attach ourselves together create a structurally-sound whole entity.  Only when the individual parts are joined is the overall design a success.