03_MP: An incomplete thought on the issue of Detroit

occupying ruin

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introduction The following narrative is collection of thoughts, ideas, and assumptions initially centered on the word ruin, more importantly, working from a definition found Oxford English Dictionary, OED. The OED defines ruin as a state or condition of collapse or downfall. The definition makes no mention of structure or the built environment though it comes from the Middle English sense of “collapse of a building”. This is useful to me in this exercise and my interpretation of the word because it does not dictate my idea of the word. Because ruin does not have to pertain to just the building or architecture I can look at ruin in terms of people, society, ideas, culture, or any number of anthropological artifacts. The interpretation of the word, ruin, can reference a much larger scale both real world and intangible, cultural ruin or the degradation of urban infrastructure. The focus could most certainly be on financial stability at multiple scales as well as laying the groundwork for the decay of a single family home or allowing the bones of an incomplete skyscraper to act as a beacon of its economic desolation.

Synonymously, abandon is a large part of ruin. As a verb, to abandon is to give up or relinquish completely. Like ruin, this idea does not deal specifically with the built. I’ve observed that ruin is almost always caused by some manner of abandonment, and without human intervention the abandonment is left to decay and fade away. In terms of buildings and place I will refer to abandoned and unoccupied interchangeably. What is left, if anything at, is nothing but a mere glimpse of what was without a sign post or guiding narrative. Unless there is knowledge of, the unoccupied remnants of what remains gives the trained eye a detailed account of its make-up, history, and ultimate demise. As a product of abandon, ruin can be a failure to adapt to external forces in social climates or it can describe and inescapable ending.

The work of Lebbeus Woods has held great influence in my interest of social distress manifest in urban

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environment. Exploring the environmental impacts of warfare based ruin; he used the machines of war and the ruined landscape into ideas of reintegrating the built environment into the urban landscape. He understood that “old cities are made up of complex layers of buildings and open spaces, of uses and reuses, that they are woven over centuries and generations into a living tissue of meaning while absorbing into their complexity the hierarchies that governed them” (War and Architecture 8). An attempt to rebuild would be nothing more than a cosmetic fix for a deep scar. The position would be to wear the scar proudly, and let it become part the identity.

The idea of exploring modern ruin excites me. Though, I am less interested in those buildings that fall as a result of war and violence; murdered buildings and dismembered structures. I am more interested in the “Apocalyptic Sublime1” (Cairns and Jacobs 5), in the built environment that drifts and dies of more passive causes through old age or cultural suffocation, the structures that fall into disrepair as a result of neglect or obsolescence.

motivations, impetus, and intentions I am intrigued with interact. Through unification, societies can achieve great accomplishments. Though, when ideologically split they can cause catastrophic follies. Cultural rise and interaction throughout our species’ colorful past has given rise to civilization. Powerful figures, nations, and ideas rise and subsequently fall into obscurity.

In some cases they are completely forgotten about. They can leave behind little clues or latent memories of themselves, but never the complete story. Modern technologies and records don’t allow for the complete disappearance of ideas as data is continuously being created and updated across the internet. Though much of the instantly available data on the internet is of questionable value, it is easier and faster to sift through with the aid of advanced searching algorithms and databases. The use of data is excellent for reading through and interpreting the numbers to create legible quantitative data about really anything, but it can rarely lend to the actual experience and emotion of being in a place rich with ideas and history.

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Just as important as experience of place is, are the cultural signifiers of importance and memory. Though as time passes and age takes hold, perceptions of the past begin to change. When it comes to ruin, the memory of that place may not coincide with how it really was. The story of a memory might change as it is shared, and though the story might change the essence might. The collective memory of a society should not be dismissed. It is a distinguishing part of the social identity.

This thesis is meant to be an exploration of ruin as described by cultural and social impact through anthropological observation, cultural engagement while utilizing previous experience and practical knowledge gained through exercises in culturally sensitive design problems. It is imperative that there is an understanding of the cause of ruin. Through architectural and urban intervention there will be an exploration of both solutions and preventions.

I will touch on my assumptions, speculations, and observations. Through case studies and by utilizing existing infrastructure, the built environment, and the historical significance of an area as a frame work to rebuild, this research will explore the reintroduction of architectural and urban importance and reinforcement of local identity.

manifesto Our buildings are inspired by us. A symbiosis, a reverberation, architecture is a continuing feedback loop. Never meant to last forever it is a symbol of the human pre-condition to change. Architecture is change. Transforming meaning, perception of a place WILL change over a period of time. Perception will adjust with age and experiences. Architecture is ephemeral; it is distant memory Architectural typology and stature is a historical reference to its own time and the state of our species. It reflects politics and the values of those who built it; our built environment is a living history lesson. It tells a perceptive tale that is tailored to the individual. Our urban contexts influence cultural signifiers and they themselves become the

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signifiers, giving meaning and sentiment to place and prompt the creation of new perceptions and memories of a place.

What happens when the architecturally significant no longer holds any cultural importance to the individual or social interest of the masses? We are looking at the inevitability of death. “It is a mournful anticipation of… inevitable destiny and in intense consciousness of the sweetness of life2” (Klibansky 224) . We are given only hints of previous settlements but with no historical backing, allowing the mind to roam and wonder in thought as to what story could be told. Where can my imagination take me with knowledge of found artifacts of a given site? What happens when the significant is no longer signified as such and given a clean slate? We live in an era of modern day ruin. Wrought by conflict and disaster, the remains of civilization can be recent enough for the memory and sentimental value of a lost home but old enough for nature to begin reclaiming its land. At the same time some settlements are just out of recent collective memory, a photograph in old newspaper or history book. Any of those that have had a history with a place have all passed away, and the place is nothing more than a story in the eyes of their children’s children. The story could be been romanticized in such a way that the perception of the grandchildren may not resemble at all the place where their grandparent resided.

To rebuild and re-inhabit such a place is an opportunity to perceive history as it is told to me through what is left behind, and to build up from those remnants of significance. Investigating and understanding these clues is important to laying foundations in which to utilize my own knowledge, memories, and my own world perceptions. I want to occupy the context through these speculations and assumptions without pre-conceived notions, by using the next sheet in the sketchbook with the indents from what was drawn on the previous page to help guide my hand and to allow the marker to bleed through the page and inform next lines following that page.

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Research Methods This project requires more than just an understanding of the architecture and buildings in general. A much broader understanding of the built environment is necessary if I am to focus my efforts on a place to pursue, study, and focus this project. There is an interdisciplinary approach to my thinking here. I am, after all, an aspiring architect, but there is the question of whether or not an architect can create meaningful work with no understanding of the context in which the building resides. Context in this case not only refers the landscape, architectural vernacular, or the urban fabric but is also the people that live there. Without them and their practices there would be no context to build in, let alone a need to build. There needs to be knowledge of what could cause multiple scale of the built environment to be left abandoned and/or ruined through cultural study, application of interdisciplinary practices in terms of ideologies as well as reference case studies relevant to ruin. These investigations, observations, and my assumptions and speculations are fueled by an amalgamation of these methods of research.

“Social Anthropology, according to Thomas Barfield, is a term applied to ethnographic works that attempt to isolate a particular system of social relations – such as those that comprise domestic life, economy, law, politics, or religion – give analytical priority to the organizational bases of social life, and attend to cultural phenomena as somewhat secondary to the main issues of social scientific inquiry” (17). Participating in a culture and observing individuals and practices is useful for understanding a particular society and going inside a population, rather a population’s cultural practices that include the social, political, utilitarian and symbolic influence in the urban fabric. This leads me look at ethnographic methods to study, considering ethnography is the study of people in a particular society or population. A practice that I have done before and will likely do again is to go to a place without preconception, or with as little as possible, to allow my own experiences and observations to dictate my opinion of that place. I do this by traveling throughout an urban context and engaging with locals while taking

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part in local traditions. I basically do all I can to appear as though I’m not an outsider. Although I am an outsider [Who drives through Detroit in an import?] this allows me to experience what tourists don’t usually get to see. It is not always pleasant, rather there is certain air of fear that keeps me alert, and I miss a lot of the great touristic landmarks. However, the experience of seeing a new place in a nontraditional way is quite rewarding.

This method of observations lends to a greater understanding of the culture, but it is the architectural lexicon and phenomenological experience that help to identify local symbolism and identity. The physical identity of a city is usually dictated by its aesthetics, buildings, land marks, and planning. This is the product of cultural need, whether symbolic or functioning utility is the built environment. There are intangible identifiers as well within the urban context that include shared historical experience as well as ethnic makeup. It is necessary to note that prior to having a specific location of study, I anticipated I might find myself in a place without readily available records or data to research, so I would have employed ethnographic analogy to give incite to one place buy studying another with a similar cultural identity.

Case Studies For this exercise I am utilizing my most recent and previous experiences and travels to guide me through my understanding of culture as a whole and the effect culture has on populations and places. I will be focusing on three primary case studies. The first of which will be post Katrina New Orleans followed by London, post 2012 Olympics. Finally I will be looking at the division of Cyprus in 1974, and the effects it still has on residents today.

In terms of ruin and abandon what happened to these places? Could anything have been done to avoid the negative effects of event(s)? What are the lasting implications? Will they ever be mitigated or just accepted as part of the cultural make up and built environment? There are endless questions which lead to answers that imply more questions. Consider cause and effect, what came first? Where does the blame lie?

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CS01: New Orleans My first involvement with the built environment at the scale of a city was in New Orleans in 2010. This was five years after the city was devastated by Hurricane Katrina and left scarred. The storm damaged the levees which should have provided protection against flood and storm surge. What is unfortunate is that much of New Orleans lies within basin that sits below sea level, and when the storm came in, up to eighty percent of the city was inundated (Lubell). The floods caused intensive damages to the area and displaced many of the residences both in New Orleans and other gulf coast towns. The effects of storm are great and still visible. The biggest problem was not that more than two hundred thousand housing units were damaged and their occupants displaced, it is that the city was unprepared for a catastrophe at such a large scale. There was neither infrastructure in place to bring the residents back in, nor was there sufficient aid to repair damaged properties quickly. As of 2009, four years after the storm, United States Census Bureau data notes that an estimated 44,000 housing units were still uninhabitable with in New Orleans with two thirds of those slated for demolition at the time3. Some good did come in the wake of the storm. Attention was garnered toward the city. With the attention came aid and new found love for New Orleans by many Americans. The purpose of my visit there in 2010 was to study the area for a design competition4. Working with a group of students we explored the city and observed architectural vernaculars to create a sustainable, low cost housing unit.

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CS02: East London Traveling with another group of international students through London would seem innocuous at first, but we didn’t visit any posh areas or any high streets. We walked through marshes, and we explored a brand new ghost town5. We gazed upon the massive then unoccupied stadiums left behind from the 2012 Olympics Games. Zaha’s London Aquatic Centre was among them along with, a large red sculpture resembling a mangled roller coaster (fig 08), a huge mega mall and a handful angry off residents. The Stadium at Queen Elizabeth Park (fig 05) is to be used as the home of the West Ham United Football Club (Bond). Here we deal identity and legacy. The 2012 Olympics were put in such a place because the land was dirty and cheap. The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, prior to the Games, held host to radioactive waste that was discovered during construction (Griffiths). Besides the obvious financial benefits of working in a site like this, the Olympic committee put the Olympic Park in east London to bring new life into the place.

Our task was to study East London, more specifically the area surrounding the Olympic Park. This encompassed Newham and Hackney. Hackney has a rich history that varies from being the countryside retreat for nobility, to becoming a neighborhood for the working class. There now appears to be seeds of what is a rich vibrant culture that is based on local identity. Amidst the influx of attention brought on by the Olympic Games. The locality itself is considered cool or hip. Part of the community identity connotes ideals of sustainability, handmade, and that of the utmost quality. The place’s name itself is not just about stating local pride but it also has value added to it now.

The identity has become a brand or a marketing device to those entrepreneurial types. As well these people also take advantage of that fact that square footage can be cheaper. Thus incubating micro industry and allowing large entities to bring people into a place and in return the place has new life.

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fig. 05 fig. 06 fig. 07 fig. 08

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CS03: Cyprus During an urban charrette with an interdisciplinary team of peers we were challenged to propose a sustainably “green” scheme that would re-inhabit an urban dead zone; a ghost city, essentially abandoned for 40 years6 . It is a place that is held hostage by armed guards. It is a political power piece that has been in play by the Turkish Military and in limbo, simultaneously, since 19747. The residents of Varosha, a part of Famagusta on the east coast of Cyprus, were displaced from their homes in fear of armed combat. The conflict here was one sparked by a centuries old culture feud and of nationalistic prejudices. The Greek Cypriots reside on the south side of the island while the Turkish live to the north. Unable to cross demilitarized zones for 30 years, it wasn’t until the 20038 that people could pass relatively freely from side to side9. Yet the area of varosha is still fenced, and 40 years later the land owners and families want to go home.

What I find interesting about this little piece of land is the desire the Greek Cypriots have for it. Yes, it was their home once but it’s not what it was in their memories. I listened to romanticized stories for days of what it was to grow up there, to fall in love there, and to start family there. I listened to stake holders plead their cases, and voice their concerns about reopening the city. As people age, so do their perceptions. I can’t help but wonder what would happen if you just let the previous residents and their heirs back in after all of this time. The site of miles of decaying buildings is really a depressing and yet fascinating site to see (fig 09). I couldn’t help but just stare out in awe. Our task was to create a framework that would integrate Varosha to the rest of Famagusta and the rest of Cyprus while minimally impacting and respecting the existing cultural remnants10 of a bygone era (fig 13).

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fig. 09 fig. 10 fig. 11 fig. 12 fig. 13

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speculative discovery Our species is unique in that we can remarkably change our environment to suit our needs relative to available technologies. Referring to anthropological practices and deconstructing the nature of culture and social populations into the constituent layers and elements that make up the whole allows for rigorous investigation into the cause of ruin. This might perhaps give some insight into the prevention and recovery of modern ruin.

Culturally significant elements might include but certainly are not limited to the politics of a population or society, social values and belief systems, and economic means. Many of these cultural descriptors begin to manifest tangible signifiers into the built environment that could be a reflection of the local populations. As these signifiers begin to take on meaning and broadcast local identity they turn into a sign, recognizable to those not part of the local population. These physical manifestations of identity could be anything from a landmark to an entire architectural language (figs 00, 00, & 00). It is the built environment.

The purpose of, rather the necessity, of architecture is sheltering us and our stuff; a place to hold socially significant activities with a myriad of functions. Structure, dwelling, building, or architecture, call it what will but it is born of a need and is detailed with available knowledge. Unless it has been ruined through conflict disaster, it should remain a relevant part of our built environment until it dies of old age with natural decay and ware or is no longer required by those who once needed it.

identity I observed repurposing and rebranding through local signification in London’s East End11. Commercial entities began manufacturing importance through borrowing local history. They did this for the use in marketing tactics

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by creating monikers of places to lure consumers into thinking they are partaking in local community. “The Textile Building… made in Hackney Village” (fig 07) was a slogan use in advertising a housing development attached to the former Burberry Factory. Hackney Village, now known as a Hackney Central, has a rich history. I will briefly discuss more of this later. It is an interesting study of capitalizing on the bones of old landmarks or popular notions of place based on historical importance to sell something wholly unrelated by implying or connoting a [false] identity by branding the building as piece of history.

The flux of a population is crucial to the life of the urban fabric, regular change and progress is the life blood of the urban realm. Social norms are dynamic and reinventive; rarely stagnant. They become, live, and die so that new ideas, new places and new people can have a place to create unique identities and a new branding (fig 18). That’s not to say that the past must be left to history, and all but forgotten to pave new ways. Nothing is ever completely new. There is no clean slate or tabula rasa. Everything is built upon the remnants of old which give strong foundations in which to establish a strong culture enriched environment. Built for a particular population and given enough time, those people are may no longer be in that place and new people, influenced by new things, now inhabit it a become part. Their needs might be wholly different from previous culture’s status quo but they are still built on the past and are part of the social history. Lebbeus Woods in his pamphlet War and Architecture writes, “the complexity of buildings, streets, and city, built up over time and across the span of innumerable lives, can never be replaced… [attempts to do so] serves the interest of the decrepit hierarchies, struggling to legitimize themselves with sentiment and nostalgia, the demogogical ruse that is all too comforting and appealing to people struggling to recover from the tragedy of profound personal and cultural loss” (10).

Those places and spaces that exist within stagnation or are created along strict guidelines tend to fall by the wayside with nothing pushing for change or cultivated to sustain otherwise. “The hierarchies that governed them,

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that attempted to force their life into rigid structures they had never been, and never become (Woods, War and Architecture 8). The grass is over grown and the earth begins to consume. Regularity seems to breed idle conditions, comfortable and unaccepting of new ideas. The rhythm of a street grid in a flat place does leave something to be desired, but this is more about the culture that inhabits a place not the physical patterns in which they live. Though, the physical regularity of a controlled grid might very well itself be a cause of decline. That might be major cities like New York, London, etc. tend to be such successful cities. Enabling individuals to come and go and go as they please, these cities in many cases, act as a hub. People can build lives and then move on, a starting point for many but not necessarily the end of the road. The progressive nature of these places makes room for new populations, with new ideas or different needs inviting different services and taking new compensable positions.

uncertainty I began my search looking for undetermined environments, urban conditions, and architectures that have been, in a manner of speaking, all but destroyed in very specific ways. I started by looking at essential causes of desolation. I have been and remain intrigued, perhaps too focused, with the idea of buildings damaged by human means of destruction like neglect and social stresses. Unfortunately the captivating qualities of structures that fail from natural means aren’t of as much relevance for my purposes. They fall apart because roots might take refuge in the spalling cracks of old concrete or moisture weakens the old wooden bones, nature has begun to reclaim the remains. Cairns and Jacobs mention these conditions as a “dramatic encounter with death… [that] has a shocking effect” (5) giving a sense of awe. In a way he is right, incredible as most of these structures appear, they unfortunately come across in such a state of decay that they are no longer useful in sustaining life or allowing for a sustainable community. It is like trying to bring a brittle a skeleton into life after all of its flesh has gone. Its key components are missing, and the interconnected infrastructure is gone. Though a story can be pulled from the

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remnants, it is not necessarily conducive to resuscitate. A more practical approach would be to catch a building before it has turned to decay. It is far more common to find an empty building over “ruined” buildings. As visually stunning as a ruined building is, it is not always something you can work with. However, abandoned buildings do not have to imply ruined buildings; it could very well just mean currently unoccupied or in-between uses.

I have been considering how cultural flux has generally affected place and about how a shift in cultural make up can make or break the place. A fresh infusion cultural sustenance can maintain the changing appetite of a culture so that it doesn’t starve. It will in effect stunt the built environments decay into nature’s unprejudiced grasps.

“Buildings can be subject to contamination… afflicted… in pain or wounded… threatened with death [they] must be reanimated, reborn so that they may enjoy new life” (Cairns 13). It is with this I propose the idea of interim occupation, preservation through inhabitation12 (fig 19). I was initially toying with the thought of impermanence.

This is the idea of temporary use. The idea would allow a building to be protected against ruin. There is a certain ownership and care taken of a place by those who reside there.

When exploring the use of the term impermanence I considered the use of parasitic architectures. However, the term parasite carries a negative connotation. The idea I’m aiming for is more of a symbiosis of culture and the environment in which it resides. This would allow for a temporary or perhaps semi permanence in the utility of otherwise empty or abandoned spaces. This concept stemmed from a practice similar to places in East London that I observed, and that made for a particularly interesting social dynamic for the immediate community. In speculation this area could have otherwise been rundown and uncared for was lively and sowing the seeds of small business and local identity. The building was acting as an entrepreneurial incubator. On a more permanent note I looked at the concept of reinforced preservation13 (fig 20) analogous to the function of permanent reparations much like that of a splint. This might be the scale of a neighborhood. I also explored the notion of

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integral preservation14 (fig 21) in which the focus is general and wide spread. It would account of weaving and integrating the built environment and the society, something on a more urban scale.

disposable culture The intangible aspects of human nature, the ones in which our built environments are forged, are based in time and circumstance. In today’s contemporary American cities, culture has become one of disposable means with beautiful aesthetics and diminished quality. Disposability means designed with an established and a foreseeable life span, with expectation of irreparable failure15 .Using cheap material because it is inexpensive for the sake of instant savings shows no regard for the future of the building or the context in which it resides. This sort of attitude is wasteful and enables a sort of familiar sameness, regardless of location. This practice, however, is a product of established technological advancement and progress that is unprecedented in history. This swift advancement causes obsolescence to occur much quickly. There seems to be little regard or thought in the design process for the trash and failures of contemporary progress.

We live in a disposable culture built on foundations here and now. What of our built environment? Built up over decades and centuries, it is made up of some of mankind’s most extensive and significant artifacts. These artifacts are the landmarks of our civilization and can instill innumerable emotions and invoke countless memories with in us and were central to many settlements and even cities. Yet they can still easily become as obsolete as the cell phone you have in your pocket. There was once a time when creating a building or planning took careful attention and skill from every aspect. Architecture was built to last, built over generations of workers and artisans who took pride and care in their craft.

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I think this has everything to do with American abandonment in architecture and even in cities. Our Society is formed and controlled by financial dominance, inseminated to the culture through relentless advertising and the recent narcissism of our culture to be up to date or even ahead of the game. It is a matter of those with the most wants more. What are unfortunate about this are the indirect suffocations of once thriving urban environments.

There is no longer any care or pride taken in the crafting of modern artifacts. It’s all done quickly and cheaply. What is the minimum quality for the lowest cost?

In the end it is just a lot of useless junk that no one know what to do with.

I have spent a great deal of time contesting the concepts and meanings of symbiosis16, parasitic17, commensalism18, impermanence, ruination and abandonment as they apply to structure and the urban fabric. For instance, how can I integrate a new structure to an old structure in order to reinforce its strength and to make it conducive to habitation?

Ultimately, how can I use temporary intervention to prolong the life of the build by introducing an influx of use?

Perhaps the symbiotic and structural reinforcement is not a product of physical reparation of the building proper, but rather a mending of the community who could benefit from such a place. As a general assumption, though, features within the built environment and urban infrastructure can cause social discord. It not the lone building itself that introduces the notion obsolescence, but rather lack of interest in a place or the inability to maintain.

The impermanence or the temporary nature of the built environment is not exclusive to structure and architecture.

In many ways I am referring the life blood of human intervention, the human, and the people that make up and signify our societies; you, me and that guy.

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DETROIT

Experiential Exploration Unlike the previous places that I have been to, Detroit was different on a whole new level. I had preconceptions about the city that I later dismissed as misconceptions. I spent a lifetime listening to the news and stories of about what kind of place Detroit is. I imagined a state of utter chaos amidst the ruined landscape of a once vibrant and prosperous city. I had made up a mental story about the city. I decided to explore this particular city because of these preconceptions and my fascination with how slow moving, wide spread devastation in a city like Detroit could actually happen. Detroit, in my thoughts, was a place of desolation and of crime. It was a place of poverty and of corruption.

It is necessary to note that prior to going to this city, I was completely ignorant of all that was wrong with the city. I was familiar with only a hand full of ideas about this place. Detroit was the home of modern manufacturing with the automobile. I was also familiar with Detroit’s the culture of music.

There is an entire musical genre named for the motor city, Motown. Finally, I was under the impression that the city was significantly racially divided.

Upon telling my friends and family I was spending a week alone Detroit, I received looks of shock and pleas to avoid my trip. People were genuinely worried about my safety. I shrugged it off, but to be honest I wasn’t sure what to expect or what I had gotten myself into. I arrived in Detroit on a Friday morning. It was early, overcast, and cold. In fact, for the duration of my trip the sun didn’t come out once. The airport I landed at was not what I expected. It was uncharacteristically well maintained and clean. Upon navigating my way to the car rental kiosk, I noticed that they gave me a bright white Kia. This is the sort of car that I’m not entirely sure a local would drive, considering domestic

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vehicles are manufactured locally. Dearborn, just west of Detroit, is the headquarters of Ford and General Motor’s HQ is in downtown Detroit with and Assembly plant in Hamtramck.

It took me about 20 minutes to drive into Detroit from the airport, and I think this was the most telling experience. Sports radio played, the Lions were due to play my home team, the Bucs, that weekend. I could tell I was getting closer to Detroit; it was becoming harder to pay attention to the road. On either side of Interstate 94 I began noticing buildings with fire damage, boarded up windows, and graffiti. First there was one, and then a few minutes late there were a few more, and so on. In some cases front porches had collapsed. The farther into Detroit I traveled, these conditions became more and more prevalent. “This can’t be real”, I said to myself out loud in disbelief. The buildings were getting bigger and emptier. Once I got off the interstate, the roads became a little rougher, the traffic lights blinked yellow, and the occasional vagrant stood with a hand out at the street corners. You could throw a stone any direction and hit a desolate building. I was overwhelmed.

The city was broken and gasping. This was my introduction to Detroit.

I stayed in Downtown Detroit. I was surrounded by old, decrepit, and tall buildings just outside of the city center. Besides those there was really nothing except parking lots and the occasional abandoned building. Even the people were scarce. Once I got to my hotel it was as if I was transported to another place. The inside of the building was beautiful and clean in contrast to the city outside. The people there were friendly and helpful as well. It dawned on me pretty early in my time there that just because most of Detroit looks like a post-apocalyptic waste land does not mean that is the case.

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I didn’t explore much my first day there. I drove around, visited a landmark or two, and got lost a few times.

That evening I got in touch with an old friend that lives just outside of Detroit. We met up and found ourselves at a concert in downtown across from the Tiger’s stadium, Comerica Park. I was introduced to almost every one of the staff, bouncers, and bartenders that he knew. He clearly used to work there. We met up with more of his friends across Detroit. Basically I was taken on a tour of Detroit that most visitors probably wouldn’t have had the opportunity to see. I spent the entire night discussing the city with strangers and the next few days exploring the city.

As I have stated before I didn’t know much about the city. I didn’t know any of the architecture or the history of it. I was familiar with only a few buildings and these were to be my starting points for exploration. The first is Michigan Central Station in Corktown which is west of downtown. This structure comes off as a tombstone in the city as it eerily towers above its surroundings (fig 27). Another area of interest for me was the Packard Automotive Plant (fig 02) which I will get into a bit later. However, on the road to the Packard I ran into an unexpected surprise.

I passed by the Heidelberg project (figs 22 & 23). It is an art installation dating back to 1986 (Heidelberg) that covers a few neighborhood blocks. At first glance it seems to be a series of colorful collections of junk, but upon inspection it is organized in a deliberate manner throughout the empty lots. The aim of the project according to the organization’s website is “to inspire people to appreciate and use artistic expression to enrich their lives and to improve the social and economic health of their greater community” (Heidelberg). It was a sharp juxtaposition to what the rest of the city had shown me up to that point. As the Heidelberg Project stands in glaring contrast to the blight of its surroundings, so does the rest of city in some way or another tell the tale of its recent history.

Downtown and Midtown along the central north-south axis of the city along Woodward Avenue also called the Cass Corridor was where I observed the most activity. It acts as a link between the Educational and Public MICHIGAN | GREAT LAKES AREA

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4 distance in miles

institutions in the northern part of Midtown, with Wayne State and Museums, to the more commercialized downtown district in the South. On either side of Woodward Avenue there tends to be a barrier of development and activity forming a street wall that almost seems to shield it from the surrounding blight. One of these areas is of significant importance because of its rich, influential history. It lies immediately east of the Cass Corridor and is in an old neighborhood called Brush Park. It was a neighborhood for Detroit’s most affluent citizens in the mid-19th Century, but had fallen out of fashion with residents by the early 20th Century as factories and industrial activity became more prevalent19 (Historic Designation Advisory Board 3) . There isn’t much left of that past now. The Neighborhood is largely a collection of empty lots resembling a savannah with the occasional historic mansion (fig 28) and more recent buildings (fig 27) peppered throughout. What is most fascinating about this particular area is its proximity to Downtown, (fig 29) and how in a matter of seconds you can go from giant empty development to traffic jams and sirens.

Detroit is a huge place, but the downtown is relatively walkable and can be traversed in about an hour. On Sunday morning I decided to leave the car, and explore downtown on foot. It was another pleasantly surprising experience. What I didn’t expect to find on my walk through the city at 9am on a Sunday morning was people.

There were people, and they were everywhere. The entire city’s parking lots where filling up quickly and all the bars and restaurants were crowded. There was music and barbeque in the streets. I had never seen anything like this before, and all for a football game. I started my morning by going to the Michigan Theatre (fig 24), now and abandoned building turned to parking structure. It was a beautiful and nontraditional example of functional reuse. The interior of the building was literally gutted. All of the fenestrations, molding, balconies, wall finishes, etc. were left intact, but it was repurposed to be used as a parking garage. This is yet another instance of the extreme juxtaposition of old and new function; necessity of utility. The inside of the parking garage was occupied by more tailgaters with barbeque and music.

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The scale of the city There is more to Detroit than 5 days will allow for intense exploration. With an area of 148 square miles (including Hamtramck and Highland Park), Detroit is more than four times larger than the island of Manhattan. Of the total area of Detroit, an estimated 37.64 percent, or 55.7 square miles of the land is a series of empty lots and open space. Furthermore, lots with uninhabited structures account for an estimated of 13.49 percent, or 20 square miles20. I tended to stay near the city’s center while avoiding many of the neighborhoods a bit farther away. This allowed me to focus on a few choice sites by proxy for the whole city rather than try to sum it up with one visit.

The map on pg. 41 gives an approximation of the part of Detroit that I spent most of my time in and the areas in which I gave the most focus.

The areas of focus are all just a little bit different from each other. Each one of the four sites I have looked at has a particular identity or distinguishing characteristics. They were ultimately chosen because they were different enough from one another, but all had characteristics in common with many of the areas throughout Detroit proper; areas of commercial activity, sites of industrial and manufacturing processes, residential neighborhoods.

All are victims of obsolesce. The Corktown neighborhood for its iconic significance and a few choice structures therein hold a particularly interesting and surprising history. The Packard Automotive Factory for its sheer size has a potential influence on the surrounding areas to generate interest both in small business and manufacturing and breathing life back into the adjacent neighborhoods. The Rivertown warehouse district was sort of stumbled upon.

The area shows signs of new life in housing and small business while derelict manufacturing structures maintain a presence. And though I have already made mention of Brush Park, I initially wanted to pursue further study on it, but elected out it to focus more thoroughly on the other three sites.

45

fig. 27

46

fig. 28

fig. 29

47

site01:a landmark relic‌ Michigan Central Station has an iconic stature. I was aware of the building before I knew it resided in Detroit.

Towering over its neighborhood it stands stunningly tall at 230 feet (Swaminatha 33). Michigan Central, for lack of a better term, has an eerie presence on the site. Its stone facade is covered with fenestrations that once held glass, but now brings a transparency and lightness to the otherwise solid structure. The base of the building is surrounded by tall barbed wire fence with the intention of keeping vagrants and urban explorers out. More likely the purpose is to keep scrappers away from the building to keep it from taking on any more damage. The front of this building is a larger open park, and in the rear is a now defunct rail yard. The Area was a hub for all rail traffic in and out of the city and was forced into use in 191321 (Schultz 891) just a month prior to its formal christening. During the 1950s the train station began to fall out of favor in lieu of the more preferred method of travel, the car (Swaminatha 33).

The Beaux-Arts station resides in Corktown just west of Downtown Detroit along Michigan Avenue. Founded in 1834 Corktown is one of Detroit’s oldest neighborhoods. It was a working class neighborhood and was so named because many of its early residence emigrated from Ireland via Cork (Swaminatha 35).

There was however another building in the area that took my interest. It is situated at the corner of where interstate 96 meets Interstate 75. As with most buildings in Detroit, it is covered in Graffiti and has almost certainly been a casualty of scrappers. Beyond that, it is an unassuming looking building without any physical outward tells of what its function was. It is Clad with metallic panels and circular porthole windows down the side (fig 34).

It initially reads as a failed office park. The building sits at a site surrounded with accessibility from both major and minor highways yet it seems highly disconnected from the Corktown District in which it located except for the view of it has of Michigan Central Station (fig 32). I later discovered the building was a hospital now known as

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fig. 30 fig. 31 fig. 32 fig. 33

Left Top Right Middle Right Bottom Right

49

50

the Southwest Detroit Hospital. It was initially built as a segregated hospital for disparaged minorities, but by the time it opened in 1974, there was a higher demand for racial integration than prior to its construction. Because of debt and trouble drawing in patients, the hospital closed its doors in 1993. It reopened again in 1996 as the United Community Hospital only to close again in 2006 (United Community).

fig. 34

51

CORKTOWN

52

53

site02:the waterfront district…

East of Corktown, across downtown is another place of interest. Rivertown starts at Downtown near the Renaissance tower, GM’s Headquarters, and extends east to Belle Isle. The island is situated in the Detroit River between Canada and the United States, and is maintained by the state of Michigan. Belle Isle marks the eastern limit of Detroit’s Riverfront. Rivertown is a neighborhood on the upswing, though I wouldn’t have guessed it while I was there. Perhaps it was just the time of year, but the place came off as barren and lifeless; populated only with a peppering of brand new structures and old dilapidated industrial buildings. However, the area has been lifted up and invested in greatly over the last decade creating a pedestrian friendly series of interconnected parks, pavilions and other points of interest. This is, in part, a product of the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy whose mission it is to oversee and support development and expansion of the Detroit RiverWalk, riverfront district, and associated green spaces (Vision and Mission) The particular site in question sits on the mainland at the west side of the bridge connecting to Belle Isle. It consists of a large parcel of land that is currently in the process of soil remediation and the remains of The Gray Iron Foundry. The Gray Iron Foundry (fig 36), like many in Detroit, appears as your typical Detroit industrial building.

It is clad in bricks, used as a canvas, and falling apart. I unexpectedly stumbled upon this building which is just off Jefferson Avenue between Iron Street and Meldrum Street to the west of Belle Isle and is in the direct path of the Detroit RiverWalk. It is not and inviting site, as it’s surrounded by barbed wire fences with signs posted to keep unwelcome guests out. Traveling south down Iron Street (fig 37), the Foundry is on the left side in disrepair with some Graffiti and rust while the building to right has an active life. A series of small businesses populate the ground floor with lofts above them. The green space at the end of Iron Street is Mt Elliot Park, part of the RiverWalk. The foundry

54

fig. 36

55

had its start in the 1916 and grew to employ up to three hundred men and made multiple additions the building by the 1930s (Burton 5:362). The Gray Iron Foundry eventually succumbed to foreign competition and financial strife.

Operations ceased in 1987 (Detroit Gray Iron).

Unfortunately upon writing this, I have learned that the building is currently in the process of demolition.

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fig. 37 fig. 38 fig. 39 fig. 40

Top MIddel Left Bottom Right Bottom Left

57

RIVERTOWN

58

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site03: a decaying factory…

This is the ultimate modern ruin. It is the kind of place urban explorers and “ruin porn” enthusiast love. Since 1903 The Packard Automotive Plant had size and presence. It hasn’t been used for manufacturing since 195622, though still presents itself as a reminder of what made the city great. However its obsolescence is what arguably would bring about the plant’s downfall. By no fault of the designer, Derrida says in his letters to Peter Eisenman about Architectural ruin, the plant “…carrie[d] with in itself the traces of its future destruction [through its technological progression], the already past future, the future perfect, of its ruin… its haunted, indeed signed by the spectral silhouettes of this ruin” (Derrida 11).

The Plant was designed by architect Albert Kahn, one of Detroit’s most prolific citizens who specialized in industrial architecture (Meister). In 1930 Clarence Burton wrote that the plant was a city in itself. It sprawled across a land area of 35 acres (Finlay 2). By 1909 it had 116 buildings boasting three million square feet. It combined every advantage and convenience of the social as well as economic welfare of its 16,000 employees (2:1373-1374).

The complex is a series of multistory buildings that were not designed for automated automobile manufacturing.

Packard automobiles were originally handmade, and assembly line practices were not implemented until the 1920’s. It wasn’t until after World War Two that full automation was implemented. In 1956 the factory was moved from the grand boulevard complex in Detroit to South Bend, Indiana for the sake of production efficiency (Packard).

It has been totally uninhabited since 1999 and in that time it has become a decaying playground for explorers and a spectacle for tourists. It has been a way for scrappers to make ends meet by taking advantage of what’s left, but realistically it is falling apart. The Packard Plant is a fascinating situation, but ultimately a cancer on the

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fig. 42 fig. 43 fig. 44

Top Middle Bottom

61

landscape. It’s exciting to gaze upon the complex, to explore it. It feels almost otherworldly like an opportunity to briefly step into a dystopian post-apocalyptic world.

The Packard Automotive plant was only one of a handful of buildings I was remotely familiar with in the city, though I knew almost nothing about it except where to find it and that it was big. I still wasn’t prepared for how monstrously huge the place is. Standing near the bridge crossing over Grand Boulevard on the east side of the building, I looked left and right down the faces of the structure and it seemed to go on forever (fig 42). There was a constant and consistent repetition of concrete column, brick and glass infill, concrete column, brick and glass infill, and so on. There is no longer any glass left and much of the brick has been knocked out. Almost all the steel components in the buildings have been either salvaged or they have since been mangled and left to rust (fig 45).

The truly depressing nature of this site is not the building itself, rather it is the surrounding neighborhoods. Standing as a mere shadow of what they used to be, only a fraction of each block still has homes on it and many of those homes are damaged (fig 47). Any building in this area that isn’t house is almost certainly a ruin as well.

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fig. 45 fig. 46 fig. 47

Top Bottom Left Bottom Right

63

PACKARD

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65

fig. 49

66

D

DATA DRIVEN MAPPING using open source as a tool for design

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sources and understanding Detroit’s situation is not unique. I think what makes Detroit’s plight so recognizable is the scale of its ruined landscape. There is a lot of attention given to the city because of it. Though some of that attention may be negative, many initiatives and programs have been started to fight the blight, and create a sustainable reality for Detroit through intensive studies and academic research.

Besides the readily available US census data, I have spent a lot of time with data sources such as Motor City Mapping23, Open Street Maps24, and Data Driven Detroit25. I have also utilized several pieces of specialized software to help me translate the data into usable graphic and tactile information. The data from the aforementioned sources are free to use generally compiled by nonprofit organizations based on research or generated by user sourced information from in the field. This potentially creates a sort of living and ever changing data mine. The goal of Data Driven Detroit [D3] “is to create continuously updated, essential, and unbiased information to be used by all to drive informed decision making” (Mission and History). Open Street Maps [OSM] is a completely user driven mapping service, much like Google Maps, that makes all the mapping data and layers accessible to anyone. Motor City Mapping [MCM] takes user defined data for each property in Detroit and makes that freely accessible as well. Data from MCM might include properties with dumping or fire damage. There are also descriptors for damaged and even uninhabited structures. These sources thus became useful in mapping Detroit and allowing me to isolate only the data that I needed.

It should be noted that because MCM and OSM are completely user driven, there can be slight inconsistencies in the data. My purposes for the use of this information are academic and experimental, so it shouldn’t cause an issue.

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The original intention of utilizing data from OSM was to create a customized and fully featured map to generate quality vector graphics. Understanding the features of OSM and how to access and manipulate the map data lent to an understanding of how internet mapping works. The map data of OSM, much like the .shp files26 used in GIS27 mapping, have features unto themselves, properties that can create an essentially bare bones map that displays only what is wanted. Each feature28 is a point or set of points generally located through GPS among other surveying methods29 that have specific data attributed to them. The points are the basis for geometric data resulting in roads, building footprints, municipal boundaries, land use, or really anything. The information about each specific feature can act as a layer allowing isolation. I translated the data using visual programing and parametrics through a Rhinocerus3d30 plug in, Grasshopper31. Furthermore, with a plug in for Grasshopper called Elk32, I was able to access limited OSM features within these maps. Using the Elk plug in as a starting point I was able to decipher the data structure for the OSM information and pull any of the information out which resulted in a working vector data to which I could easily translate to other software.

MCM in connection with D3 also has the user generated mapping data available for public use. The Data from MCM is different than OSM in that it maps the physical condition of each individual parcel within Detroit. It maps parcels without structures (fig 51) and the occupancy of structure (fig 52). It also reports fire damage (fig 53) and dumping. Unlike OSM, MCM gives .shp, or Shape, files for its mapping data. Given that there are many different methods for reading shape files available, I opted to stay with Grasshopper for this. Like Elk, there is a plug in called Heron33 that allows for reading shape files as well as pulling data from external web sources including ArcGIS REST services. These GIS tools include geolocation, vector data, aerial maps and elevation data.

Results Coupled with the shape file from MCM I was able to overlay the GIS data with the MCM data to create a

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fig. 51

fig. 52

fig. 53

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fig. 54

comprehensive scale map. I created a density map (fig 50) using a 1/2 km grid overlayed onto the city of Detroit.

Each grid cell contained a single point at its center. In relation to the number of abandoned structures that were in each cell, the point was elevated in the Z direction. The points then became the basis for a surface that gives Detroit’s relatively flat landscape a hilly topography (fig 26). The end result was scaled three dimensional representation of the marriage of these data sources which could begin to tell the story of Detroit.

The next step in this exercise was isolating the three sites (fig 54) in my initial analysis to begin comparing the visual level of abandonment per the given area. My intent for these slivers of this new landscape was to act as the basis for a series of models that abstractly represent each site by bringing together my experience with Detroit as well as the available data. The end result is a comprehensive marriage of the technical and the thoughtful.

Experience meets technology.

As the CNC router carves away at a chunk of wood, it reveals the physical product of this data fueled exploration. I understood that building directly into or onto this theoretical surface condition would be difficult, but it would seem that nothing within Detroit’s city limits is easy. It certainly hasn’t been for half a century. The city has become a static waste land with little change for the better, save for a number of organizations like the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy. It is a difficult task to get the ball rolling on anything in Detroit considering everything cost money, even the demolition of derelict structures.

The city is a victim of obsolescence. The Packard Factory’s downfall, the suffocated Michigan Central Station, and the lesser demand for segregated hospitals are all textbook stories of obsolescence. When the Packard Automotive Plant was no longer suitable as a facility for automated automobile assembly, the company left the city for more usable space in the 1950s. As the demand for the automobile increased the need for a rail was slowly

73

phased out. The remote location and lack of interest made it difficult for this new hospital to survive. The take away from this ultimately is to create space, notably industrial or commercial space that can be easily changed or modified for use by the next inhabitant. Ability to change and evolve is the key in function, symbolism, and in society.

It is with this concept of obsolescence that I began building on these experimental sites. I referred to the initial sketches and drawings of my speculations and musings on the subject to inform the built language(figs 00-00).

Tectonics that displayed a sense of changeability would allow the ability move and rotate, rise and fall. There is also a renewed sense of connectivity between each structural node to enhance the network of accessible space. Many of the places that I witnessed while exploring Detroit seemed very disconnected and remote. The goal again, is to allow for new populations, with new ideas, different needs, inviting different services, and taking new compensable positions.

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fig. 55

fig. 56

fig. 57

75

76

77

fig. 59

78

fig. 60

fig. 61

79

80

fig. 62

fig. 63

fig. 65

81

fig. 65

82

fig. 66

fig. 67

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Conclusions: The initial explorative notions of ruin and abandon fueling this project have undergone many changes and are still evolving. There is a certain fascination with shock and awe of particular types of ruin whether they are delightful or repulsive. No less intriguing, there is the kind of ruin that is cancerous and dangerous. These types not only become a haven for nature but a social danger. It is hazardous and unsightly. It’s the type you find in Detroit.

I started this thesis without a thesis question. I have ideas that lead down certain paths of inquiry, but to ask a single question on the matter of Detroit is to assume there is a single answer to fix all. That most certainly is not true.

Working through this project and going through the pieces to get a better understanding of the whole is a telling experience; though at times I feel like I might be missing something. The lack of total understanding often brings on bigger questions and further pushes my interests. I have explored algorithmic, computational design and parametric applications to help approximate the missing pieces. These bring new tools to the table allowing for data analysis that might not have been possible otherwise. Software, the use of rapid prototyping, and machining has brought an industrial design feel to the process of working.

My past experiences have played an important role as inspiration for this f project. Interactions with foreign culture and with different social and cultural values than those I am accustomed to have skewed my view on architecture and showed me that context is not the small plot of land within the property lines. Architecture should not only cater to the needs of the client / owner, rather it should also reflect the identity of its local connection.

This exploration is not over.

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end notes 1.

“popular charm of deteriorating infrastructure, incomplete new builds and failing or destroyed old builds, as well as creatively formed informalities” – Stephen Cairns

2.

Erwin Panofsky’s take on Nicolas Poussin’s painting Et in Arcadia Ego from Philosophy & History: Essays Presented to Ernest Cassirer, 1963.

3.

Numbers were compiled from a 2009 US Census study of post Katrina New Orleans. <https://www. census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/housing/cb11-28.html>

4.

2010 USGBC Natural Talent Design Competition

5.

Part of the 2012 Olympic Legacy and was site of the Olympic and Paralympic Village.it is now used for housing but was completely empty when I was there, more than a year after games.

6.

Famagusta Eco City Project <http://ecocityproject.com/famagusta/>

7.

Occupied by the Turkish military, but by order of the UN, Varosha is unable to be inhabited by anyone but its original land owners and residents. Until a deal is met the area goes into disrepair and left for ruin and its stakeholders wanting.

8.

It was durring this time that restrictions were loosened,

9.

Though it was easier to cross, it still wasn’t garunteed. On more than one occastion our group got held at check points and were unable to pass immediately. Its also worth noting that since north cyprus is not recognized as a country by most of the world, they had to give us secondary passports to move from side to side on the island.

10. The fort where shakespeare’s Othello was based in the original venetian walled city of Famagusta.

11.

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This was durring the 2013 University College London’s Bartlet Development Planning Unit’s SummerLab. A week long work shop and charrete addressing urban concerns and consequences of the 2012 London Olympics

12. A symbiotic relationship benefiting both parties. The build continues to be used, otherwise saving it from neglect. While the person using gets a place for social need for a limited agreed up time.

13. Reinforced preservation carries the notion of a forced fix it now attitude. Sort of the titanium rods and pins used to mend broken bones. A new armature to pull into the built fabric.

14. Integral Preservation this would be an intervention on the urban scale taking into account infrastructure, buildings and most importantly, social needs.

15. I am mainly poking at Apple products. Yes they are beautifully designed, they are designed with mediocre and propriety is components. When broken you cannot just fix them and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s generally just easier to buy replacements.

16. Mutually beneficial 17. One benefits while putting the other at a disadvantage.

18. Mutually neutral 19. This was because housing needs to be accommodated for the booming factory worker population.

20. Calculations were done using data from motorcitymapping.org and grasshopper.

21. It wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t supposed to officially open unto January of 1914 but the station that it was built to replace caught fire Dec 26, nine days early. Interestingly Ford announced his $5 day within 2 weeks of the new station.

22.

After Packardâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s move to Indiana in 1956 the plant became a an industrial park the ran from 1958 1999

23.

https://www.motorcitymapping.org

24.

https://www.openstreetmap.org

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25.

26.

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https://www. http://datadrivendetroit.org A file format that stores point generated geometric vector data with associated attributes or features.

27.

Geographic Information System. Generally used for the display of geographic data and features.

28.

OSM features are tagged attributes relating to respective vector data, much like that of shape files.

Generally calling out roads, buildings, et al.

29.

Land and Aerial Surveying

30.

Sophisticated 3d surface modeling.

31.

Parametric application based on visual programming that gives real time iterative information.

32.

From the developer - Elk is a set of tools to generate map and topographical surfaces using open source data from OpenStreetMap.org and SRTM data from USGS. <http://www.food4rhino.com/ project/elk/>

33.

From the developer - enables the import of GIS data from various sources into the Rhino/ Grasshopper environment. < http://www.food4rhino.com/project/heron/>

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list of figures fig.001.

Abstract speculation informed by remnants of previous drawings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 2

fig.002.

Packard Automotive Plant, South of Grande Boulevard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 5

fig.003.

Concept Sketch abstracting ideas and memories changings as a result of conflict.

Meant as a companion to the written manifesto in this document.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 10

fig.004.

New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

Digital image. Http://discoverhistorictravel.com. Web.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 15

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fig.005.

The Stadium at Queen Elizabeth Park, 2013. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 17

fig.006.

Leyton Marsh in Hackney, 2013. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 17

fig.007.

The Textile Building, Hackney, Google Maps, Street View. 2015 April 29. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 17

fig.008.

ArcelorMittal Orbit, public art piece and observation tower. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 17

fig.009.

View of Varosha from Famagusta Municipal Building. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 19

fig.010.

Varosha warning sign . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 19

fig.011.

Varosha. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 19

fig.012.

Old Church in Varosha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 19

fig.013.

Mote around old Famagusta. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 19

fig.014.

Significantly Meaningless 01, Sketching Speculations, 2014 Aug 07. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 21

fig.015.

Significantly Meaningless 02, Sketching Speculations, 2014 Aug 08. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 21

fig.016.

Significantly Meaningless 03, Sketching Speculations, 2014 Aug 09. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 21

fig.017.

Sketching Speculation, Reactivating the street. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 23

fig.018.

Sketching the identity of the changing Culture. Study 2014 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 25

fig.019.

Preservation through inhabitation, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 28

fig.020.

Reinforce preservations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 30

fig.021.

Integral preservations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 32

fig.022.

Heidelberg installation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 35

fig.023.

Heidelberg installation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 35

fig.024.

Inside of the Michigan Building Theatre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 36

fig.025.

Vicinity map of Michigan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 40

fig.026.

Map of Detroit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 41

fig.027.

Brush Park, Abandoned Building. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 44

fig.028.

Brush Park, Historic Residence in disrepair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 44

fig.029.

Brush Park Proximity to downtown. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 45

fig.030.

Michigan Central Station, December 2014 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 47

fig.031.

Graffiti at Roosevelt Park, December 2014 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 47

fig.032.

United Community Hospital with Michigan Central in the Background, December 2014. . . . . . pg. 47

fig.033.

Unknown abandoned building, Roosevelt Park, December 2014 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 47

fig.034.

United Community Hospital, December 2014. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 48

fig.035.

Experience and memory map of Corktown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 50

fig.036.

Gray Iron Foundry, December 2014 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 53

fig.037.

Iron Street looking south, Google Maps Street View. 2015 April 29. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 55

fig.038.

Iron Street Lofts Foundry, December 2014 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 55

fig.039.

Gray Iron Foundry, courtyard, December 2014. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 55

fig.040.

Unknown abandoned building, Foundry, December 2014. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 55

fig.041.

Experience and memory map of Rivertown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 56

fig.042.

Bridge at Grand Boulevard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 59

fig.043.

South side of building 13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 59

fig.044.

Open space between buildings 27 and 28. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 59

91

fig.045.

Building 27 interior and courtyard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 61

fig.046.

Building 27 interior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 61

fig.047.

Typical residential conditions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 61

fig.048.

Experience and memory map of the Packard Plant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 62

fig.049.

Social topography map of Detroit. The peaks represent the highest concentration of abandoned structures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 64

92

fig.050.

Grasshopper script utilizing, OSM, Heron to generate the Social Topography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 67

fig.051.

Partial map of empty lots in Detroit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 69

fig.052.

Partial maps of empty structures in Detroit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 69

fig.053.

Partial map of fire damaged structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 69

fig.054.

Social topography detail map of the Packard Plant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 70

fig.055.

Speculative intervention 01, structural attachment and skin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 73

fig.056.

Speculative intervention 02 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 73

fig.057.

Speculative intervention 03, reinforced preservation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 73

fig.058.

A study of tectonics, allowing changeability and stability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pg. 74

fig.059.

Corktown speculative intervention. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 76

fig.060.

Corktown speculative intervention detail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 76

fig.061.

Corktown, Overall. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 77

fig.062.

Rivertown speculative intervention detail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 78

fig.063.

A series showing the adjustment of the tectonics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 79

fig.064.

Rivertown speculative intervention detail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 79

fig.065.

Packard, detailing change in elevation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 80

fig.066.

Packard attachment detail. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 80

fig.067.

Packard, Overall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 81

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Thank you.