OpenIDEO - How might we restore vibrancy in cities and regions facing economic decline? - Inspiration

"Five research fellows from the University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning transformed an abandoned house in Hamtramck (which is basically Detroit) into their very own lab rat. The recent architecture grads gave it new stairs, walls, glazing, rooms -- the works. But it wasn't some heroic attempt to build shelter for down and outs, which a lot of architecture schools are into these days. It was a pure design exercise -- one aimed at rethinking the conventions of a single-family home -- and it shows how much creativity you can draw from the great arsenal of Detroit's ruins.

The fellows bought the house at a foreclosure auction for a whopping $500. It was literally a shell -- no doors, no windows, no electricity, no plumbing, no stairs. There she is. What a beaut!

The house has been passed on to a Hamtramck design collective, which will take on further architectural "interventions." It's refreshing to see this sort of thing in a city practically defined by its failures (cars, crime, RoboCop 3). We've all heard the phrase "design loves a depression." By that logic, Detroit should be a design utopia. And it's had its moments. See examples here and here.

But the city's hemorrhaging people. The population has skinnied down from 1.85 million residents in 1950 to 951,270 in 2000 (a figure expected to slip further in the 2010 Census). So even though the landscape's perfectly suited to a creative surge, the talent pool would rather create elsewhere. Who can blame them? Detroit, as we all know too well, doesn't do utopia."

I remember a newspaper headline in the property pages, "If I owned a house in Detroit and a house in hell, I would rather live in hell and rent out Detroit." I have never been, but that doesn't paint a pretty picture. On property prices, they must be low, so beyond the House, one can buy a cheap factory, cheap warehouse, cheap whatever that can allow experimentation that simply cannot take place in the big expensive city. The Shopping Mall as we know it came from a couple of places, one being http://www.taubman.com/ from nearby Michigan.

Comments

Lindsay Wright

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December 05, 2011, 10:38PM

I love this post and could not agree more! Detroit is a clean canvas and I think the cities down will eventually turn into and up! Baltimore is, personally, one of my favorite American cities and they have had a lot of rough times too... all it takes in an open mind, some creativity, and some investors to turn around a neighborhood!

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Clotilde Serien

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December 05, 2011, 07:36PM

James, As many people here, I really like this idea. It's amazing how arquitecture can transform a city. I am sure you heard about how Bilbao an industrial city of northern Spain was reborned through arquitecture... The concept was slightly different, as it was involving recognized arquitects and they counted with a fantastic communication plan (Guggenheim museum) but after years of free fall, the city started to attract tourism which created jobs, new investments ...

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Sarah Fathallah

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November 29, 2011, 10:39PM

James, I really love this idea. It makes me think of so many opportunities to build on top of that (not only for architects!). Really looking forward to seeing how this will evolve in the concepting phase.

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James McBennett's reply to Lindsay Wright's comment

James McBennett

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November 29, 2011, 10:43PM

Have you read disruptive innovation by Christensen, silicon valley has the tech/app world, detroit could get the disruptors looking for cheap costs. Hmmm.. Maybe I should move to detroit!

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Callie Neylan

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November 29, 2011, 09:14PM

This is great. I could totally see this in cities like Baltimore and Philly. Baltimore is starting a new design high school. With this model, lots of lab space for students!

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James McBennett's reply to Lindsay Wright's comment

James McBennett

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November 29, 2011, 10:19PM

Do you know High Tech High? Amazing School!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfP53Alnbhk&feature=player_embedded

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Alexandra Lieberman

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November 29, 2011, 03:02PM

Here in New Haven, Yale certainly uses "cheap" as an opportunity. It gives financial incentives (like subsidized mortgages) for professors and staff to buy in fringe areas; and each year, first year Yale Architectures students will build and design a house in blighted neighborhoods.http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2011/sep/20/2011-vlock-adds-new-house-to-new-haven-block/. It has been interesting to see how the houses have fared - most have been well-kept; and neighborhoods have seemed to improve, even through the recession.

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Jennifer Davis

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November 11, 2011, 03:44PM

Brilliant! Is the house open to the community to enjoy? Seems like that would be a win-win for both the young architects and the community.
Baltimore has similar issues with rough neighborhoods full of abandoned houses. I wonder if this example can expand to a vacancy-to-artistry model for whole blocks of abandoned houses?

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James McBennett's reply to Lindsay Wright's comment

James McBennett

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November 12, 2011, 09:28PM

Not sure if it open. comment above for whole blocks.

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James McBennett

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November 11, 2011, 03:49PM

Have been searching for an article I read a couple years ago where an architect bought not just one house, but a full street at bottom dollar. He created a pedestrian community behind the road changing the format of multiple backlawns into a shared linear park and individually restored each house. I think it was in Miami. A fantastic project of revitalisation where it was much more than a new coat of paint.

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Mike McDearmon

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November 10, 2011, 08:25PM

Excellent point - I think this idea of opportunity amidst turmoil reflects several patterns that have been emerging in many cities recently and that will continue to grow in relevance as economic pains continue.

I see many of those common themes reflected in the inspirations posted thus far; smaller, cheaper, more flexible, local, and thinking toward a future of very limited resources and a whole lot of people that need to share them.

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Vincent Cheng

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November 09, 2011, 03:28AM

Great inspiration James! Was thinking on posting on this topic myself (3 to 5 digit house prices clearly signal opportunity, and not just for real estate opportunists), but you definitely did a far better job than I would have =).

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