The Normal – volume 3

The Gro

tesq

ue. P

rojects.

The Norm

al.

The Normal.

Eleven proposals for reimagining the Detroit Dry Dock/Globe Trading Building.

Work by Ivan Adelson, Sean Baxter, Jimmy Bevilacqua, Bruce Findling, Tarlton Long,

Justin Mast, Ben Rambadt, Kurt Schleicher, Aaron Weller, Brenna Williams, and Conor Wood.

contents003 Flexible Living

Brenna Williams

041 Re(Industrial)mediationConor Wood

085 Social ProductionJustin Mast

131 Black Sheep DetroitKurt Schleicher

167 Growing UrbanismAaron Weller

207 Scraptastic!Tarlton Long

247 RiverFront ArtistsJames Bevilacqua

299 Lighting G-TACIvan Adelson

357 GO.Bruce Findling

397 Writing DetroitBen Rambadt

445 Restrained UrbanismSean Baxter

Left : View of the interior

of the Globe Trade Build-

ing.1

2

Flexible LivingResidential Adaptation of the Globe Trade Building

Brenna Williams

3

LOCATION

The Globe Trade Building is located at the

crux of the Dequindre Cut and the Detroit

Riverfront. The expansion and development

of the Dequindre Cut allows multiple

neighborhoods to become connected by a

pedestrian infrastructure. Plans for further

expansion of the Dequindre Cut indicate that

development along this pedestrian corridor

is a promising investment. This project

proposes to transform the Globe Trade

Building into residential units. Residential

units are ideal in this location because

the Dequindre Cut and Detroit Riverfront

allow the inhabitants to commute to work

or travel throughout the city more easily by

bike. Furthermore, the site is located of the

edge of Milliken State Park, which provides

an abundance of recreational space. The

other side of the property has land that can

possibly be developed in the future. Close

to the site, a newly renovated building, the

Elevator Building, has been transformed into

commercial units. This indicates that the

area has the potential to become a diverse

and vibrant neighborhood. These qualities

make this site an ideal location for residential

adaptive re-use because the inhabitants will

always have the promise of nature in their

vicinity, as well as the opportunity to be the

first residential building in a burgeoning

neighborhood.

4

Right : Map of Globe Trade

Building in relation to

the Dequindre Cut and

Detroit Riverfront .2

5

Left : View of the Detroit

River.1

6

Right : View of the Dequin-

dre Cut running adjacent

to the Globe Trade Build-

ing.1

7

Left : Adver tising campaigns3,4 Detroit is a city that is constantly portrayed in

a negative light. Recent news of the decrease

in population, according to the recent

census count, has only added to the notion

that Detroit is a decaying and neglected

city. There are numerous ad campaigns

that are sponsored by the city or private

entities. These campaigns acknowledge

the need to increase the appeal of the city

to the surrounding cities, states and even

the country as a whole. The researchers for

many campaigns have chosen to focus on the

younger demographic as the target audience.

It is unlikely that the baby boomer generation

will choose to move to the city at this point

in their lives. Therefore, revitalization of

the city is already being instigated, and will

continue to be promoted by the younger

generation. Advertising campaigns are also

encouraging the younger generation. For

example, the D-Brand ad campaign targets

21-34 years olds within a 5-hour radius of

8

Detroit by portraying the city as the place

where cool comes from. Furthermore,

Selling Detroit was a marketing competition

sponsored by Time Inc. that challenged a

handful of advertising agencies to create

campaigns that encouraged the creative 18-

34 year old demographic to move to Detroit.5

The ad campaigns believe that there are

many opportunities in Detroit for the younger

generation and believe that they can be an

asset to the rebranding of the city.

9

Left : Diagram of unit

system

10

More than ever before, place matters. It is the distinct vibe that makes communities unique from one another. People want to live in communities that are unique and inspiring to them. - Richard Florida6

DEMOGRAPHIC

The creative class is a significant force in

the development and revitalization of urban

environments. Richard Florida coined

the term creative class and explains the

necessity of cities responding to this group

of people. Florida says the creative class is

comprised of knowledge-based workers in

industries as diverse as science, law, media,

design, computer programming and many

more. He describes the creative class as a

fast-growing, highly educated, and well-paid

segment of the workforce on whose efforts

corporate profits and economic growth

increasingly depend.7 Furthermore, this

demographic tends to migrate to culturally

vibrant and diverse cities that provide a

stimulating and exciting lifestyle experience.

Detroit currently has the resources to appeal

to this demographic, due to the plethora of

rich and varied cultural activity that the city

offers. However, the stigma that the city

exudes has resulted in a mediocre expansion

of the creative class. Florida also explains

how this group of people prefer participatory,

multidimensional experiences.7 This project

anticipates the creative class as being the

user of this residential building and therefore

aims to create a living experience that differs

from the traditional single-family residential

houses throughout the city, and instead

focuses on flexibility.

11

HOUSING SCHEME

Groups of eight housing units are assembled

into a block. This block is made up of two

stories with each story having four 20-0 x

20-0 units. Rather than designing a variety

of unit types, this project develops one unit

type and then allows the user to modify

units as necessary. For example, perhaps

a person moves in and decides that one

unit is not enough space for them. Perhaps

they like to have out of town visitors and

therefore they need two or three units rather

than just one unit. The user may purchase

shares for the square footage of multiple

units depending on the availability within

the building. Therefore, the initial identical

scheme of units is a base point from which

the configuration of units departs. The axon

diagrams show a few possible configurations

of how a user may aggregate individual units.

The user is not restricted to expanding solely

within each block of eight units. A user can

choose to add square footage wherever

it is available within the building. This

indicates that a user can expand substantially

horizontally, creating a long linear space,

or they can buy a unit that is not connected

to their original unit, thus creating a

disconnected living space. The accompanying

plans display the interior conditions of the

standard block of eight individual units, as

well as an example of a unit that has been

adjusted by the user to better fit their needs.

12

!"#"$

Right : Standard unit plans

13

$

"!

Left : Adjusted unit plan

14

Over time, shares of square footage can be

bought and sold to further negotiate the

residential spaces. The 20-0 x 20-0 grid

can be disrupted in order to account for the

buying and selling of square footage. Square

footage can be assembled and bundled in any

manner that the tenants wish. For example,

if a user needs half a unit, but has no use

for the other 200 square feet, then they can

sell that square footage. This involves the

removal and reconstruction of an interior

wall. The exterior windows are organized

so that walls can be located at 5 intervals

throughout the interior space. Circulation

has been established to foresee future

possible configurations and allow access in

all instances, yet any radical changes to the

square footage layout will have to consider

the circulation.

Each wing of units has an exterior walkway.

The entry stairs for each block of housing

are connected to these walkways. The fairly

steep stairs rise one floor level to allow for

access to all four potential units on the top

floor, and well as slope down slightly to allow

for access to the lower four units. For the

South and West wings, the exterior walkways

are accessed by a vertical circulation core

adjacent to the parking lot. For the East wing,

the exterior walkway originates from the

central plaza.

Right : Standard unit plans

15

Section perspective

showing standard unit

configuration

16

Left : Detail perspective

showing adjusted unit

configuration

18

Detail perspective show-

ing adjusted unit configu-

ration

20

Left : Perspective of com-

munal kitchen

22

COMMUNAL SPACES

Utilities are provided and are at an

appropriate number whether there are a

maximum or minimum number of users

within the building. As shown in the unit

plan, there is one shared kitchen on each

floor of a block of units. The back two units

share this kitchen. The front two units do not

have access to the kitchen. Also, there are

the utilities available for a bathroom in each

unit, however not all bathrooms are installed.

Most tenants will own more than one unit and

therefore a bathroom in every individual unit

is redundant. If there is an instance where a

tenants unit or configuration or units does

not include a kitchen, he or she will use the

communal kitchen. The communal kitchen is

located in the central building on the second

floor, above the public bar and caf. It is a

feature that allows this building to become a

community and encourages the neighbors to

cook, eat and socialize together. Additionally,

there are two elevated communal backyards

in the project. Similar to the kitchen, these

spaces are places for the users to congregate

and socialize. Since there is a constant

trading of square footage, it is necessary

that all tenants are friendly with one another.

This allows square footage negotiations to be

more appropriate and amiable. Additionally,

it fosters an environment that appeals to the

creative class and most importantly, creates a

cohesive community.

23

Perspective of communal

backyard

24

Left : Detail of existing

structure1

26

Right : Detail of existing

structure1

27

Left : Photo diagram of

suspended masses

Right : Diagram of sus-

pended masses

28

STRUCTURE

The Globe Trade Building was an industrial

ship building factory. The only components

that remain from the existing building are the

columns and trusses because the structure

is extremely strong. In the South portion of

the existing building, the original columns

were hung from oversized trusses so that

two working floors could be suspended.

Additionally, in the East and West wings the

trusses were quite robust because they had

overhead cranes hung from them. By utilizing

the structurally robust trusses the majority of

this building is suspended. There is a volume

suspended in each wing and one set of units

perched above the trusses. The decision to

provide more housing units on the South side

was because it allows for views to the river.

There is a volume located in the center of

the site and not hung from the trusses. This

is because it is part of the program for the

public, rather than for private residential

use. All private spaces are elevated off the

public floor, while the singular public space is

embedded within the ground. Another strong

formal move was to lift the building at the

corner because this project is located at the

crux of the Riverfront and the Dequindre Cut.

This provides the infrastructure for a plethora

of pedestrian activity. By lifting this corner,

it is a gesture to the public to not be blocked

out by this building, but rather to feel free to

slip inside the space.

29

Left : Massing model

30

""%

Right : Lower floor plan

33

"$

Right : Upper floor plan

35

Right : Section

37

Right : Section

39

41

Re(Industrial)mediationDetroit Institute for Remediation Technology (DIRT)

Conor Wood

Left : Hanging Gardens and

Cour tyard, DIRT

42

This is a new notion, nothing like the notion of machines that was current in the Industrial Revolution, absolutely nothing like it. It is, if you like, a much more biological notion, maybe Im wrong to call such a thing a machine

Gordon Pask, Cybernetics Theoretician, 19721

43According to many, the proper name

for the current era in Detroit is post-

industrial.2 Afterwards, proceeding, ad

memoriam; the term invokes forlorn

nostalgia, resounded by national regret. It

is an explicit acknowledgement of loss and

death. The Motor City was once synonymous

with industrial enterprise, but what does it

symbolize in this century? Popular media

has repeatedly categorized this urban center

as a certain kind of crisis; an economic,

ecological, and cultural failure. But has

contemporary media entirely missed the

opportunities presented within inherent

failures? Former Governor Jennifer Granholm

projected one model for the Southeast

Michigan Region: an economy of the green-

collar.3 In this renaissance of Detroits

manufacturing prowess, the region would

effectively become the national leader in the

production of lithium-ion batteries, windmill

turbines, electric vehicles, and alternative

energy research. While this broadcast

has begun to garner global attention, the

city must not neglect to position such re-

industrialization as integral to reducing our

impact on the natural environment. The

region suffers some of the most contaminated

brownfield sites in the entire world. This

not only makes redevelopment in Detroit

expensive, but also dangerously toxic.

Current Governor Rick Snyder is further

threatening such redevelopment incentives

by eliminating brownfield and historic

development tax credits. If such a budget

were passed through, most entrepreneurial

redevelopment in the region would come to

a standstill. Even The Big Three automotive

corporations would suffer from such policy,

with less incentive to re-tool their historic

facilities in favor of building outside of

Michigan. Gov. Snyder cites brownfield

and historic development tax credits as

not central to attracting new businesses,

but maybe the full potential of brownfield

sites and green-collar industries hasnt yet

presented itself. 4

44

The brownfield site stands as the geo-

physical manifestation of the post-industrial.

Brownfields are defined by the U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to be

real property complicated by the presence

of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or

contaminant.5 Before tax credits were

approved in 1997, Detroit was estimated

to have over 5400 acres of brownfield land

within the city boundaries.6 While this

acreage of contaminated land supersedes

national averages; brownfield sites have

permeated our metropolitan centers. The

EPA has estimated that there are over

450,000 brownfield sites in the United States.

Assuming that the typical industrial site is 2-3

acres, there are more than 1,350,000 acres

of hazardously contaminated land in this

country.7

Opportunistic Wastelands

Such national failure on the ecological

front predicates a search for opportunity

in the current post-industrial situation. If

contemporary society allows brownfields to

proliferate urban regions, there isnt much

time before hazardous substances over-

saturate our natural ecology to the point

where our urban survival is threatened.

Poised as the most endangered, can the city

of Detroit turn this impending crisis into

economic capital?

Right : Map of Detroits

brownfield sites

47

TechTown and NextEnergy in the New

Amsterdam DIstrict of Detroit have

established economic incubators for

research-based start-ups such as NexTek

Energy, A123 Systems (lithium-ion batteries),

and Asterand PLC (stem cells and human

tissue).8 Besides providing subsidized space

to these companies, Detroit has become

attractive as a research corridor with direct

proximity to Wayne State University, the

University of Michigan, and Michigan State

University. These start-ups are beginning to

operate on a national scale as they continue

to take advantage of working in Detroit. If the

model of the research-based organization

became the new paradigm of Detroit

economics, then the city may be able to

effectively re-industrialize.

Entrepreneurial Remediation

Bringing together energy research and

biotechnology, green-collar industry could

be best defined as turning bio-ecological

improvements into capital gains. Considering

that Detroit has a surplus of brownfield sites

and the means to support heavy research,

environmental remediation can become a new

industrial export. As in Economics 101, supply

vs. demand: the United States demands the

recovery of contaminated urban sites for

development, Detroit supplies research

expertise and manufactured mechanical-

computational apparatus to public and

private markets. In order to achieve such a

model, an incubator could be established

in the form of a catalytical institution to

harbor green-collar organizations: the Detroit

Institute for Remediation Technology (DIRT).

Left : Implant Matrix

Geotextile, by Philip Beesley9

48

Immediate Siteplan

Right : Globe Trading

Building from Dr y Dock

The former Globe Trading Building and Dry

Dock Complex serves as the site for the

DIRT. A brownfield industrial site along the

Detroit River, the facility has a long-standing

industrial history of shipbuilding. The Dry

Dock in front of the complex has now become

an inlet for the river, with part of the site

being developed into a state park. The Detroit

Riverfront Conservancy is building a trail

that will stretch along the site all the way to

Belle Isle. The Dequindre Cut trail also travels

the east side of the building. Without any

adjacent structures, the Globe stands as a

monumental ruin in the current landscape.

Its renegotiation for the DIRT will institute

manipulations of scale, material conservation

as a historic property, public interaction, and

ecological phytoremediation strategies.

Globe Trading Building and Dry Dock Complex

50

Conceptual Site Model,

DIRT

51

^ N

52

BELOW GRADE / STORAGE COMPUTATIONAL CONTROL ARCHIVE + DATA CENTER RECEPTION AUDITORIUM

RESTROOMS MECHANICAL ACCESS

SECTION B

53

GRADE LEVEL / HANGING GARDENS INFORMATION TERMINAL ENTRY FIELD LABORATORY SEALED LABORATORY

OPEN LABORATORY AUDITORIUM RESTROOMS MECHANICAL ACCESS

54

SECOND LEVEL / HANGING GARDENS COMMISSARY EXHIBITION HALL MULTI-USE OFFICE MULTI-USE LABORATORY

SEALED LABORATORY OPEN LABORATORY AUDITORIUM RESTROOMS MECHANICAL ACCESS

55

THIRD LEVEL / HANGING GARDENS GROUP STUDY DECK MULTI-USE OFFICE SEALED LABORATORY OPEN LABORATORY

MEZZANINE + LOFT RESTROOMS MECHANICAL ACCESS

56

grade

A-A /

STORAGE COMPUTATIONAL CONTROL ARCHIVE + DATA CENTER RECEPTION AUDITORIUM


HANGING GARDENS INFORMATION TERMINAL ENTRY

FIELD LABORATORY SEALED LABORATORY OPEN LABORATORY AUDITORIUM RESTROOMS

MECHANICAL ACCESS COMMISSARY EXHIBITION HALL MULTI-USE OFFICE MULTI-USE LABORATORY


GROUP STUDY DECK MULTI-USE OFFICE SEALED LABORATORY OPEN LABORATORY MEZZANINE + LOFT


55

SECTION A

57

B-B /

grade

STORAGE COMPUTATIONAL CONTROL ARCHIVE + DATA CENTER RECEPTION AUDITORIUM


HANGING GARDENS INFORMATION TERMINAL ENTRY

FIELD LABORATORY SEALED LABORATORY OPEN LABORATORY AUDITORIUM RESTROOMS

MECHANICAL ACCESS COMMISSARY EXHIBITION HALL MULTI-USE OFFICE MULTI-USE LABORATORY


GROUP STUDY DECK MULTI-USE OFFICE SEALED LABORATORY OPEN LABORATORY MEZZANINE + LOFT


SECTION B

58

Left : Southwest View down

Atwater Street , South

Faade

Right : Flipped Truss Box

Frames, from Atwater

Street

60

Foundr y Column

An excavation of the interior core (shipping and receiving, chipping

room) and south end of the building at grade creates a sheltered

plaza and courtyard beneath the through the Globe. Due to the

extensive dilapidation of the current structural systems, only the

primary steel structures can be salvaged to support heavy loads. To

supplement new load-paths resultant of the excavations, structural

prosthetics in the form of concrete piers and re-oriented trusses

are applied to the building. The old steel contacts the new concrete

to form box-frame sections that support each of the three wings.

The re-oriented trusses are taken from the existing roof structures,

which no longer need to support the loads of ship construction.

Cavities in the piers hold mechanical systems.

Structural Prosthesis

61

Oblique Plan Projection,

Concrete Piers & Scaffolding

62

Corner Isometric with

Hidden Lines, South &

East Faade

63

x-ray / structural isometric

uncovered / structural isometric

64

Left : South Faade

Right : Structure Exposed,

South Faade

67

Left : Sectional Details,

Concrete Piers

Right : Group Study Deck

68

Mimetic Machines Exhibit ,

Exhibition Hall

69

Geotextile Details, Philip Beesley10

To aid in the recovery of the Globes brownfield site, robotic

geotextile meshworks operate on the landscape and Dry Dock.

The apparatus filter chemical toxins and heavy metals through

salt absorption, which is then stored for research and safe

disposal within the DIRTs lab spaces. The geotextile also holds

the site stable for the growth of vegetation. The structures of the

meshworks are composed of biodegradable corn-based plastics.

Each element has sensors which record on-site chemical and

climate conditions, which are telecommunicated back to the

DIRTs Archive and Data Center for data analysis. Sensors are

likewise implanted into the cable-mesh of the Hanging Gardens,

in the DIRTs excavated courtyard. Suspended from existing

and new steel columns, the mesh serves to cultivate vegetative

material for study and implementation in remediation. In both

systems, the network is a physical and metaphorical synthesis

between the technological and the organic, a primary objective

of the DIRT as it seeks to export designs for mimetic remediation

machines.

Remediation Apparatus & Hanging Gardens

71

Left : Oblique Plan

Projection, Hanging Gardens

Right : Hanging Gardens

72

_clean levels _carbon monoxide _sulfur dioxide _ozone _nitrogen dioxide

RAINSTORM ELEVATION /

BARGE POLLUTION ELEVATION /

MORNING TRAFFIC ELEVATION /

73

This cable-scaffolding structure is remnant of excavation

support during construction. The scaffolding is then applied with

hundreds of LED lights and sensors that respond to real-time

gas fluctuations. In a clean-air composition, the light defaults

to a green hue. If the embedded sensors pick up another gas,

the light changes to a color corresponding with the chemical

composition. The response of the lights reads as fluid waves

of color across the south faade of the Globe. Beyond dynamic

aesthetics, the wall serves as an interface for visualizing

conditional circumstance in the air. The cause and effect enables

the viewer to understand the fluctuations in the air as a form of

post-industrial data that is communicated by the environment.

This data reads as a painting of light by nature; a commentary

similar to Diego Riveras paintings of Detroits industrial

condition. Because of the Globes international context on

Detroit River, the south-faade response wall speaks to a much

larger audience through Canadian vantage points and tourist

photographs of Detroit.

Bio-chemical Response Wall

Detroit Industr y, Diego Rivera11

74

Top Left : Industrial Loft

Section

Bottom Left : Response

Wall Plan

75

Right : Detail Axonometric,

Response Wall

76

South Faade with Response

Wall at Night

78

Volume Model, Residential Cour tyard

As the Dequindre Cut activates a formerly defunct urban condition,

the vacant lots around the Globe have the opportunity to become

live-work environments along Detroits Riverfront. A residential

building completes a ring around the DIRTs courtyard, protecting

visitors from northern winds and protecting a park space with

access to the Dequindre Cut. With screen-cable scaffolding

structures along the faades of the building, residents can plant

wall gardens to grow small-produce and flowers. This scaffolding

also enables a freedom of aesthetic and construction for the true

building walls behind the cables. This infill could be any masonry

unit, from cheap CMU blocks to custom stone. Though designed

for this building, such a method could be implemented in further

residential development throughout the area.

DIRT Residential Courtyard

Right : Volume Model,

DIRT & Residential

Cour tyard

80

dry dock (submerged) atwater street + detroit institute of remediation technologies (dirt)detroit river

DETROIT RIVER-JEFFERSON AVENUE/

81

+ dirt residential courtyard jefferson avenue< dequindre cut >

+ detroit institute of remediation technologies (dirt)

+ dirt residential courtyard

Below: Isometric Site

Projection, DIRT &

Residential Cour tyard

82

Site Concept Model,

Facing Nor thwest

85

Social ProductionReformatting Studio Space

Justin Mast

86

Clockwise from Left : Jerr y

Paffendorf and Mar y Lorene

Car ter of LOVELAND1, Oneita Por ter, Designer and

Owner of GrrlDog Jewerly2,

Andy and Emily Linn of City

Bird3, SOUP4, Sarah Lipinski of Wound Menswear in her 2000 Brooklyn workspace5, Mike Han of Street Culture Mash, and Claire Nelson of the Bureau of Urban Living6.

87

The Spirit of Detroit

Agent Entrepreneur

The days of mourning Detroit are over,

especially if you ask Detroiters. After years

of highlighted fallout, glorified ruin, and

declarations that the city is deadthe tune

has changed. And its changing from the inside

out. A new breed of wide-eyed wild men and

women are moving back into the city and

declaring it a land of opportunity. Deserted

properties, stretched infrastructure, and

unpredictable services were reasons for

concern; but now the city is being seen

as cheap land, homes, and buildings, an

opportunity for off-the-grid development,

and free-reign. Detroit entrepreneurs are

bringing restaurants, bakeries, bike shops,

and produce into the citynot to mention

money, jobs, and occupancy. This decade

may the be start of a new era in Detroitone

marked by optimism and opportunity. It

seems that today in Detroit, theres nothing

entrepreneurship cannot accomplish.

(see Agent Entrepreneur in The Normal, Vol. I)

88

With over 150 commercial tenants, including

architects, painters, clothing designers, glass

blowers, wood craftsman, metal sculptors,

and graphic designers, the Russell Industrial

Center is the classic example of abundant and

cheap space available in Detroit. Designed

in 1915, by Albert Khan, the structure was

Russell Industrial Center

built to accommodate the growing auto body

manufacturing business of the Murry Body

Company. After years of being abandoned,

Dennis Kefallinos purchased the building

in 2003 and converted into more than one

million square feet of studio space and lofts.

In many ways, the buildings design for its

former use as a manufacturing facility, has

served its tenants well. The space is raw

and secluded, perfect for the manufacturing

component of new small scale makers. That

being said, todays maker-businesses need to

thrive at far more than just manufacturing.

Successful new business models emerging

From left to right: GMaps Aerial of The Russell Industrial Center, an interior space at the Russell (March 2011), same interior space in 2008 by Christian Unverzagt.

89

are collaborative and open. Production

now involves ever changing partnerships

and teams. Entrepreneurs are required to

be producers, salespeople and marketers.

Customers want to not only see behind the

curtain, but also play a role in the making of

their goods. In terms of meeting these needs,

the Russell is less effective. Some makers and

entrepreneurs are finding themselves buried

in the center of a massive complex, isolated

from each other and from their customers.

To be sure, the Russell is providing Detroit

with something importantlow cost flexible

space for making and designing. That said, its

not the complete picture. If Detroit continues

to attract and produce independent maker-

businesses, we need to be ready for the next

stepan architecture that enhances and

catapults new social production processes,

the same way Khans designs did for the mass

production era.

90

The Eastern Market is another example of

thriving entrepreneurship in Detroit. As

many as 40,000 people flock to Eastern

Market for its Saturday Market to enjoy one

of the most authentic urban adventures

in the United States. The market and the

adjacent district are rare finds in a global

Eastern Market

economy - a local food district with more

than 250 independent vendors and merchants

processing, wholesaling, and retailing food.

At the heart of Eastern Market is

a six-block public market that has been

feeding Detroit since 1891. Every Saturday

it is transformed into a vibrant marketplace

with hundreds of open-air stalls where

everyone from toddlers to tycoons enjoy the

strong conviviality served up along with great

selections of fruits, veggies, fresh-cut flowers,

homemade jams, maple syrups, locally

produced specialty food products, pasture

and/or grass-fed meat.7

91

By serving as a larger entity under which

many independent entrepreneurs gather, the

Easter Market creates something tangible

that customers can approach. One doesnt

need to know about a specific cucumber

farmer, for example, to know where to find

fresh, locally produced cucumbers. While

From left to right: Eastern Markets plan for its public core8, a vendor unloading produce9, a birds eye view of a portion of the Eastern Market as proposed10 , and a scene inside of one of the markets interior spaces.

buying locally from dozens of independent

vendors, Detroit restaurants can still go to

one place at one time for their supply.

Building on this success, the Easter

Market has big plans. They are expanding

the market to include more places for food

production, they are planning out live/work

spaces, and they are planning on connecting

to the DeQuindre to enhance the pedestrian

access to the market. In their plan, however,

they have decided to limit their focus to

produce. The Easter Market is a place for

selling meats, vegetables, and flowersnot

clothing, furniture, and paintings.

92

DE

QU

I ND

RE

CU

T

EASTERN

MARKET

D ET R

O IT R

I VE R

FR O

N T C

O NS E

RV

AN

CY

CANADA

JEFFER

SON

93

The Globe Trading Company Building, also

knows as the Detroit Dry Dock Company

Complex, is located at the Rivertown

Warehouse District, just Northeast of

Downtown Detroit. It sits adjacent to the

Tricentennial State Park and Harbor and

is located at the intersection of Riverfront

Conservancy and the Dequindre Cut.

The Dequindre Cut, a below-grade

1.35-mile pathway, offers a pedestrian link

between the Riverfront paths, Eastern Market,

and many of the residential neighborhoods in

between. These pedestrian paths, community

focused bike shops, and the Eastern Market

have created a car-less and local market

lifestyle potential in this city. The Globe

Building is situated perfectly to tap into this

network.

1801 Atwater Street

The intersection of Detroits

pedestrian corridor

The Globe Trading Co. Building

94

Detroit River

Started in the mid 1852, the Globe Trading

Building consists of six interconnected

buildings. The complex is significant as a

remnant of Detroits once considerable

maritime manufacturing industry. For

decades, this facility made and repaired ships

and also manufactured ship engines. For a

time, the building also housed the Dry Dock

Hotel.11

Building History

95

Dry Dock No. 2 (1982)

96

AtwateRiver Walk

Section A 1/32 = 1

97

er St. Globe Trading Co. Building DeQuindre Cut Greenway Trail

Proposed Design:

Adaptive Reuse of the Globe Building

99

Franklin St. Woodbridge St.

100

E. Jefferson Ave.

101

Undeveloped DeQuindre Cut

104

Dry Dock Hotel

Studio Spaces

Market Halls

Collaborative

Spaces

105

The Globe Trade Building has evolved

over time; a collection of buildings built over

the yearsa dry dock facility, ship building,

engine manufacturing, and a hotel. My

program in based on having a few key players:

hotel/restaurant, studio/office developer,

fabrication shop, and Shed 7an extension of

the Eastern Market.

Each stakeholder brings a certain

strategic advantage to the table in both

construction and on going activity. The

Eastern Market acquires the land, the

fabrication shop contributes to the

construction, the studio/office developer

funds new construction, while the hotel pays

for building restoration.

Injecting new life into the

buildings history

Program

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Construction sequence: starts with the

fabrication shop.

106

Ground Floor Plan 1/32 = 1

107

Second Floor Plan 1/32 = 1

109STUDIOOFFICE Spaces

110Main Hall

113

Dry Dock HotelRestaurant

115

Eastern Market Extension

117

The main halls are left in place, serving as

flex space used by all groups in the building.

During the day, the FLEX spaces serve as

workspace for the fabrication shop and the

studio occupants. Were seeing that local/

micro-manufacturing models run differently

than traditional large scale manufacturing.

Tenants might spread out for a collaborative

manufacturing process with another tenant

in the building or with another business

from outside of the building, or even outside

FLEX Spaces/Shed 7

Detroit. The spaces are available for special

events where tenants might invite their

customers to co-design and co-make items.

During evenings in the summer, the

restaurant is able to spread out into the East

Hall space. Typically, theyll use the space for

summer seating, but they may also rent the

space out for catering special events or for

concerts from the Bar/Lounge.

During weekends, the Eastern

Market spills into the FLEX spaces to host

non-produce related trade. Vendors, either

tenants or regional makers, activate the two

halls with market-style commerce.

120

Section Detail

(next page)

121

Section B 1/32 = 1

122

Section Detail 1/4 = 1

123

Structure Restored

Structure Removed

Structure Added

Material Use

Construction Diagram

125

Circulation Diagram

127

North Entrance Sequence and Skylight

128

Detroit is a place full of contradiction

and irony. The enthusiasm and belief in

entrepreneurship is real. There are things

working in Detroit that would not work

anywhere else. The wild-eyed bunch that

inhabit the place are as authentic as they

come. And they believe in their citythey

will insist Detroit does not need rebirth

or rejuvenation, its already alive. There is

The NORMAL Detroit

another side though. Car rims still get stolen.

A visitor gets sidetracked and ends up in the

wrong part of town. An unexpected turn can

enchant or demystify the place. You can never

be sure what Detroit you will get. One day its

the place of opportunity, the next, your car

gets broken in to. The problems are real. This

is the normal in Detroita place of extremes.

131

Black Sheep Detroit Embracing Individuality in the Post-industrial Landscape

Kurt Schleicher

Left : View looking nor th up the Dequindre Cut , Detroit .

133

A Point of TransitionThe Globe building is situated between

Detroits urban center and its shrinking

neighborhoods, most of which are growing

more rural each day.

With all of this open land and little city

finance to maintain properties, grasses

grow tall and neighborhoods continue to

vanish. Utilizing sheep and goats as a means

to maintain this land and manage that

public space belonging to the Riverfront

Conservancy, offers an alternative solution a

longstanding problem.

Goat and sheep migration in and around

the city behave as attractors for the new

Globe building: an urban farm for veterinary

research and the production of milk and

cheeses to compliment the area just south of

the Eastern Market.

135

Aerial View Nor theast of Lafayette Park, Detroit .6

136EASTERN MARKET

GLOBE BUILDING

PEPSI BOTTLING CITY RECYCLING

SAAD WHOLESALE MEATS

ST. JOSEPHS CATHOLIC CHURCH

CHURCH OF CHRIST ELMWOOD PARK

LAFAYETTE PLAISSANCE

PARK EAST

CHRYSLER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

FRIENDS SCHOOL10 SOUTHBOUND BUS10 NORTHBOUND BUS

BOB MAXLEY FORD

HERTZ

U,S, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

DETROIT GARDEN CENTER

(FUTURE PARK)

WHEELHOUSE DETROIT

CHENE MUSIC PARK

TRICENTENIAL STATE PARK AND HARBOR

ST. AUBIN TRANSIENT MARINA

DETROIT EDISON PUBLIC SCHOOL

137

St. Aubins, Detroit Today Projections into the future as

trends continue

140

Restore Roof

Use Existing Structure

Locate Core of Building

and Maintain Facade and

Remove all Windows

Combine Circulation

Paths Around Core

Cut and Fill for Public Infrastructure

Maintain Shade and protect against rain and snow.

Structure provides good framework structure

Increased ventilation through buiding and a

central focus.

Publick paths offer views to ground floor

while circulating through building above.

As far back as the dry dock, the Globe has had a

long history with ground manipulation. Cut and

fill methods offer a unique opportunity.

141

Stretch of Detroit Riverfront: The Globe as hub between the Conrail

Exposition Spur, the Eastern Market, and Belle Isle. All three locations

are situated within less than a three mile radius from the site, offering

ideal daily migration distances to sheep and goats.

142

Milking ParlorBoth the milking parlor and the Dequindre

Cut serve as precedents for ground removal

and the manipulation of the ground plane.

Both cases reposition the view of the user,

altering their sense of vision, providing a

different position from which to view our

surroundings.

144

Sheep DipThe sheep dip serves as an ending to a

traditional sheep chute, where the sheep

are fenced in single file and led into a pool

of water for cleaning. The dimensions of this

dip,the sloped walls, the narrowness, and

ground alteration offer ways of thinking about

how people may move through this building,

as well as sheep.

148Scale: 1/32=10

BELOW GRADEScale: 1/32=10

FIRST FLOOR PLAN

Section A

Section B

149Scale: 1/32=10

SECOND FLOOR PLANScale: 1/32=10

THIRD FLOOR PLAN

150

BELOW GRADEA tunnel beneath the existing Globe building

serves to create a direct connection between

the Dequindre Cut and the riverfront. For

those not wishing to visit the farm, the new

cut serves to create a more direct route in

either direction.

While the passage passes beneath the

building, it is not fully enclosed. Air is free

to pass through the building and up through

its central core. Drainage is directed through

this passage which is sloped towards the

riverfront.

The blue represents an enclosed/human

environment.

151

Bicycle Shop

152

Ground Level (Sheep held on Site)The ground level is opened up, creating

an environment that showcases both the

production of milk and cheese, and the

raising of sheep and goats.

Production takes the form of exhibition,

as the public is able to engage with the

processes involved in with maintaining

livestock.

The blue represents an enclosed/human

environment, including milking and cheese

making infrastructure, as well as recreation

and veterinary locations.

The red represents the areas in which the

sheep kept on site cycle through daily.

153

Pasture

Gathering Pen

Crowding Pen

Sheep Chute

Milking Parlor

TransitionPen

Shearing

Sheep Dip

CheeseMaking

CheeseDrying

CheeseRipening

Kennel

Bicycle Shop

Lambing Pen

Storage

Goats

Sheep

Packaging

Veterinary Shipping and Receiving

154

Ground Level (Sheep Held in Transition)

Unlike the sheep held on site, these sheep

do not need to be milked. They are the

caretakers of public spaces, migrating along

the river front and up the Dequindre Cut.

These Sheep come in through the gathering

pen, enter the chute, and are directed a

holding pen. They also utilized the sheep

dip during warm months, less as a means to

delice, and more as a means to stay cool and

act as demonstration to the visiting public.

155

Ground Level (Goats)

Goats are utilized to maintain the northern

end of the Dequindre Cut where the

vegetation is more diverse and rugged, while

the sheep are left to maintain the grasses

along the riverfront and out to Belle Isle.

156

Second Floor (Housing, Workspace, and Retail)The Second floor serves as the primary

entrance for employee/resident housing

while providing ample space for a number of

research and educational components tied

into the program of the farm. Employees

are affiliated with the University and local

communities, both of whom work for

temporary periods of time.

The enclosed areas are bordered by a public

ramp which frames an open floor below,

offering constant views to the animals and

production of Cheess and milk below.

157

Employee/ResidentHousing

Employee/ResidentGathering

Security

Mud RoomMarket

Workspace

Research

158

Third Floor and Rooftop (Housing and Extended Park)This level primarily serves as an extesion of

the park to the east. The two public ramps

entering the building from both the riverfront

and the Dequindre Cut meet in the middle of

the building and direct both parties to the

partially enclosed rooftop.

The various temporary Residents of the Farm

have direct access to this space from the loft

of their respective apartments.

160

Section A

162

SectionB

164

Section A

165

Section B

167

Growing Urbanismin 4 acts of construction

Aaron Weller

168

Once, a city became so geographically

sparse and so socially stratified it began

to consolidate. Within the confines of

the Globe Trading Building, a point along

the river, 4 acts of construction set into

dialogue typological dwelling conditions

of the city. The dwelling types by nature

of being constructed at different periods

were discrete. They maintained individual

differentiation and autonomy, however, the

dwellings were constructed under a new

roof, confined within walls, and among semi-

exterior interstitial common spaces, such as

an open court, streets or docks, and elevated

porches or roof terraces.

The scheme GROWING URBANISM projects

one form of such consolidation; wondering

what type of social ethos would ensue.

170

Inside the Globe Trading Bldg.

172

ACT 1 (preparing the stage):

characters: day laborers or migrant workers

or immigrant class

A crew of laborers is offered on-site living and

wages in exchange for work days. A type of

vertical worker housing is produced, modest

dwellings, possibly added to gradually as

time affords. The existing structure supports

new floor plates, and re-claimed wood from

existing floors and roof are planed and

utilized as a siding material for a balloon

frame building enclosure.

The globe bldg. is cleared of broken and

undesirable material, re-useable material

is saved and sorted, and infrastructure

necessary for the Globe Trading Bldg re-

occupancy is constructed. Infrastructure

includes: a new roof with water retention for

irrigation, stabilization of the bldg. envelope,

street with white oaks and building service

lines, raised bed agricultural plats with

trenches, and curated follies of pre-existing

building elements, i.e, loading dock, elevator

shaft, select stairwells, ladders, light fixtures,

interior steel thresholds, piano, shopping

cart, and column grid.

ACT 2 (bldg opening):

characters: artists or fabricators or creative

class

A certificate of occupancy is issued. The first

rental units are modest in scale, open and

flexible, tailoring to a creative class whos

living and work needs are adaptable and

flourish in an environment such as a post-

industrial riverfront. The rental units are

built in relation both to the newly polished

globe building and what has already been

built. Brick from the building is re-used to

construct easily partitioned open floor plans.

ACT 3 (active marketing):

characters: middle class

Space for small retail or a market is allocated

in order to test the bldg. as a viable economy,

given a growing community. The market

is constructed with metal frames from the

existing building clerestories and new plate

glass. The building owner enlists real estate

agencies to parcel off agricultural plots for

single-family dwellings. Building setbacks and

maximum bldg. heights help control urban

form, while reclaimed materials are utilized in

the construction process.

ACT 4 (plans prepared for higher density)

characters: anonymous class

The owner initiates schemes to turn the

building into a maximum occupancy. Social

and environmental contingencies are

intensified.

4 Act s of Construction

173

(photos from Detroit Bur ton Historical Librar y)

174

Globe Trading bldg. as it stands

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175

Existing trusses raised to a continuous roof line; columns remain; all interior par tions removed. The 235 x 200 footprint is opened.

176

Brick wall capped with I-beam ring; new tubular sections extend from existing columns

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177

New roof form with new truss locations, ter tiar y structure, and plastic light diffusing panels

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178

Act 1: worker housing and programming the bldg. surface (docks, raised bed planters, reclaimed material staging areas, open cour t)

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Act 4: high-density housing atop apple orchard; questions regarding a new social ethos

183

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Second Floor Ground Floor

222

Storage System Design

Big Joe Forklift s

specification sheet s

The storage system is designed and located to maximize visual

connections to the collected materials as means to provide inspiration to

the tenants of the building. The storage systems design is not only driven

by these conceptual parameters, but also by the pragmatics of their ability

to function as a storage infrastructure for a range of material sizes and

types. As a result, the specications and dimensions of the Big Joe PDS

20 forklift were integral to the design of the system and set additional

parameters for the design of the storage wall and ramp that serviced it.

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Section AA

236

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238

Living unit s are oriented

towards the Detroit River

with exceptional views

240

Upper-level public space;

the roof of the central

ser vice ramp doubles as

park space that extends

up and onto the building

242

1/8=1-0 Model

243

1/8=1-0 Model

245

1/8=1-0 Model and site context

247

RiverFront ArtistsArtists vs. Blight DetroitA New Model

James Bevilacqua

248

Private Exhibition

Public Exhibition

249

RiverFront Artist Cooperative and Dequindre Cut GalleryCan Detroit Support an Artist Movement and Avoid Gentrification?

Over the last few years, the national press has

begun to take notice of the Detroit art world

as demonstrated through articles written

for The New York Times and Wall Street

Journal. Most of the concentration has been

focused on the cheap property values and

the possible effects that artist communities

can have on building identities and creating

an environment for urban renewal without

government involvement. Right now in

Detroit, artists can purchase a house for

as little as $100 per lot and are starting to

create small artists colonies that include

live/work spaces and residency programs.

This is not a new trend; artists have been

creating bohemian villages in blighted areas

as early as the 1960s. SoHo and Tribeca in

Manhattan, Williamsburg in Brooklyn, Fort

Point Channel in Boston, River North and

Wicker Park in Chicago, and the Arts District

in downtown Los Angeles are examples of the

transformational power that artists possess.

In most cases, the artists are ultimately

displaced once their inside-out form of urban

renewal spurs gentrification. But now, with

the real estate market collapse, economists

and urban planners believe that artists have

an opportunity for ownership in communities.

The widespread economic hardships may

help create a new model for the urban

artist colony. There has been some debate

as to whether gentrification would even be

possible in Detroit. Due to the vast surplus

of vacant lots is it possible to cause massive

displacement of the current residents?

Considering that families are leaving Detroit

without the forces of gentrification at

play the 2010 U.S. Census shows Detroits

population shrank by close to 25% over the

last ten yearshow will Detroit move forward?

250

Work. . . It might seem utterly bizarre to decry the future effects of

gentrification in Detroit, a city that is now desperate for investments

of any sort and hopes of any kind. And yet, what might be even more

bizarre is how just this same desperation and hope once characterized

SoHo itself. In 1962, the City Club of New York published a report

entitled The Wastelands of New York, which focused on the area that

is now known as SoHo. The report described that area as an enormous

commercial slum with disastrously low property values. A few

decades later, of course, the problems facing SoHo became entirely

differentthe problems of a massively overdeveloped enclave of and

for the wealthy.

From SoHo to Detro?Detroit Free Press Article written by Andrew Herscher, April 1, 2009

251

Live

. . . will Detroit be different?

252

Private Exhibition

253

Public Exhibition

During the emergence of the artist community in SoHo in the

1960s, raw space was the phrase used to describe a loft in need of

repairsoften having cracked walls and ceilings and broken windows.

Renovation described the process of making the space usable. In

effect, Detroits raw space does not exist only within the walls of the

abandoned warehouses and factories; it exists amongst the streets,

the empty shops, the burnt-down homes, the vacant lots, the sense of

identity . . .

Raw SpaceThe Globe Trade Building

. . . and Detroits renovation will be the work of art.

254

Entrance

Public Exhibition/Open Market

Live Work

255

Private ExhibitonRemoval

256

Removal of Central Volume, Interior Walls, and Floor Plates

Interlocking Volumes of Live/Work and Private Exhibition

The Globe Trade Building is sited at the intersection of the Detroit

riverfront, the Dequindre Cut Greenway, and the proposed Milliken

State Park. The building has evolved from its original state, the

Machine Shop, built in 1892, as it had to adapt to changing socio-

economic conditions. Originally the building defined the perimeter

of the block, leaving a courtyard condition at its center. My proposal

recreates the courtyard by removing the central addition. All existing

interior walls and floorplates are removed to bring in light and create

a large public exhibition and market space. The existing structure is

adapted to support two elevated interlocking volumes that house a

live-work artist community to the South and East and an artist gallery

to the North and West.

The Globe Trade BuildingBuilding a Locus for Detroit Artists

257

Retain Structure

Use Existing Structure to Elevate New Programmatic Massing

New massing creates open courtyard condition and interacts visually with East and West Halls

258

Replace

Restore-Adapt-Reuse

Maintain

Remove

Remove.Age.Weather.Deteriorate.Maintain.

259

Restore.Adapt.Preserve.Reuse.Replace.

260

The RiverFront Artist Cooperative is a live-work community consisting

of eight units. The five units on the South side of the building are

meant to be occupied by permanent residents while the three East

units are for visiting artists. Both types of units contain a sleeping

loft to separate the work area. The permanent resident units have an

additional separation of live and work on the lower level by a hallway.

The sleeping loft in these units acts as a bridge between the two

programmatic elements. The living areas are positioned on the South

side of the volume to allow for river views and passive solar heat gain

in the winter. The work areas to the North allow for access to even

ambient light and a visual connection to the public space below. At the

Southeast corner of the building is a shared terrace space and access

to an additional roof terrace.

RiverFront Artist CooperativeSoutheast Corner

262

Live_Work Relationship

SectionPermanent Resident Artist Unit

Scale: 10=1/8

South Faade

Domestic Scale

Industrial Scale

North Faade

263

SectionVisiting Artist Unit

Scale: 10=1/8

West Faade

264

Entrance to the Dequindre Cut Gallery is accessed through the original

Globe building at the Northeast corner, directly off of the Dequindre

Cut Greenway. The Gallery space consists of 15,000 square feet of

open exhibition areas. The North wing hovers above the entrance to

the courtyard, connecting the original Machine Shop and Foundry of

the Globe Trade Building. Natural light is brought into the gallery from

above. The West Gallery sits on the existing structural system and

overlooks the triple height space of the Machine Shop which is used

for large scale installations. Just below the West Gallery, situated

between the Machine Shop and the courtyard is a glass enclosed

exhibition space and coffee bar. This is meant for the display of local

artists work that does not require the controlled conditions of the

elevated gallery space. It also allows for art to be viewed when the

private gallery space is closed.

Dequindre Cut GalleryNortheast Corner

270

SectionNorth Gallery and Courtyard

Scale: 10=1/8

271

North Gallery

272

West Gallery

SectionWest Gallery, Public Exhibition, and Courtyard

Scale: 10=1/8

275

Detroit is home to many different types of contemporary artists and

the Dequindre Cut Gallery is meant to bring all the artists together

in the hope that the collective spirit of Detroits artists will help to

bring positive change to the city. The Globe Trade Building, as well as

the underpass walls of the Dequindre Cut, have served as a canvas to

many Detroit graffiti artists. The Dequindre Cut Gallery would add to

the landscape for Street Art. The faade of the gallery is meant to be

marked, tagged, and illustrated. Additionally, the grounds outside the

gallery are open for public art installations.

Extending the Gallery WallStreet Art and Outdoor Exhibition

277

A major factor in the rebuilding process for Detroit will be a realistic

model for sustained growth. Downtown Detroit is mostly associated

with the cluster of skyscrapers that huddle to the West of the Globe

Trade Building. Unfortunately, the economy that built those buildings

no longer exists in Detroit. The city must be reimagined at the scale

of a smaller industrial city. This is not to say that Detroit must rely on

its dissappearing manufacturing base to support growth, but rather

to think in terms of flexible, mixed-use, adaptable buildings that can

support new businesses, artists, craftsmen, and build a closer knit

community that promotes residential and work environments.

Urban Scale DetroitA Return to an Industrial Scale City

278

Located in the heart of downtown Detroit, William G. Milliken State

Park and Harbor is the first urban state park. It is a showcase of the

natural resources collected throughout all of Michigans state parks.

This green oasis in the heart of the city provides opportunities for

picnics, walks and shore fishing. The addition of a local art gallery and

public exhibition of local artists work would add a cultural element

and attract additional park-goers. The Dequindre Cut Gallery and

RiverFront Artist Cooperative would be a destination point connecting

the RiverWalk with the Dequindre Cut Greenway as they merge into the

parkgrounds. The completely open ground level and courtyard acts as

an extension of the park, elevating the public interaction with both the

gallery and the original Globe building.

Extending the Public SpaceMilliken State Park

285

Art is one of the last things outsiders

associate with Detroit. But drive

the streets and you quickly realize

the city possesses an energetic,

grassroots creative class that not

only spreads color, whimsy and

provocation across the landscape,

but also serves as an engine of

redevelopment.

Bill McGrawFree Press Columnist

December 18, 2007

286

live space

work space

private exhibition space

public space

open exhibition space

open market space

vertical circulation core

vertical circulation core

Site Section

Scale:1-0=1/128

287

Dequindre Cut

Milliken State Park

B

A

Site Plan Plans

288

Ground Floor

Scale: 1-0=3/128

289

Gallery

Scale: 1-0=3/128

290

Live_Work Units

Scale: 1-0=3/128

291

Sleeping Lofts

Scale: 1-0=3/128

292

Section A

Scale: 1-0=1/32

294

Section B

Scale 1-0=1/32

296

Process WorkArtist Live_Work Studio and ExhibitonMid Review Proposal

artist exhibition space/ public galleries

glazing on interior band of circulation allowslight to penetrate

INSERTION: new centralizedartist work space

pockets of exterior spacefor additional art displayor social events

MANIPULATION: deep penetration of southern light to central circulation core

greater visual connection between exhibition and work spaces

visiting artist living spaces

removal of central additional volume

REMOVAL: interior walls

access to northern lightfor painting studios

Dequindre Cut

Milliken State Park

Detroit River Walk

Lighting G-TACThe Globe Trade Art Center _ Detroit

Ivan Adelson

299

Site|Situation.an area or piece of land where something was, is, or will be located | a particular set of circumstances existing in a particular place or at a particular time

300

40

The studio will consider Detroit, which has

undergone such remarkable transformation

during the last century that we dont quite

know what to call it. Artists and journalists

are flocking to the city in an attempt to make

sense of it. We are on the cusp of a period

where energy and ecology are the defining

characteristics of our time and this studio

expects that they will factor in strongly to the

design process.

The studio will focus its investigation on the

significant transformations that occurred

between 1955 and 2005 a fifty year span

where the United States saw a period of

significant prosperity, paralleled by the

growth of the suburbs and tremendous gains

in per capita consumption. 2011 marks the

year that the first baby boomers retire and

the studio will look at these conditions as an

attempt to recalibrate conditions of land-use,

home-size, commute time, etc.

The research will be a stepping off-point

from which to embark on a project that

engages contemporary conditions of life and

work in the post-boom economy. The larger

site for the project will be the area east of

downtown Detroit, running perpendicular

to the Detroit River and parallel to the

Dequindre Cut Greenway. Students are

expected to do produce comprehensive

projects that are provocative, engaging,

intelligent, and inventive.1

The Normal, a brief brief.

1 Christian Unverzagt, The Normal, graduate option architecture studio brief. thenormal-detroit.tumblr.com/about

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The first of the buildings, a steel-frame and

brick machine shop, was erected in 1892 at

the corner of Orleans and Atwater Streets.

The last one, a structure for shipping and

receiving, was constructed during the late-

1910s. In between these dates, a foundry, a

three-story industrial loft building, a chipping

room, and an addition to the machine shop

were also erected. After Detroit Shipbuilding

Company dissolve in the late 1920s, the

former engine-building plant was used by

a small stove manufacturer, by the Detroit

Edision Company, for appliance repair, and

lastly by a machinery wholesale firm, the

Globe Trading Company.

The significance of the Dry Docks Engine

Works complex is three fold. FIrst, it played

a significant role in the maritime history of

the Great Lakes as a manufacture of marine

steam engines for freight and passenger

vessels. Second, the complex of buildings

is an example of the evolution of American

construction methods of the late nineteenth

and early twentieth century...Third, this

complex is one of the last physical remnants

of the pre-automobile era industries in

Detroit.2

The Globe Trade Building, a history.

2 Detroit Dry Dock Engine Works Recording Project. HAER (Historic American Engineering Record) and UofD Mercy

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Precedents.an action or decision that can be used subsequently as an example for a similar decision or to justify a similar action

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Alvole 14 | Saint Nazaire, France | LIN architects

Le Lieu Unique | Nantes, France | Patrick Bouchain

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Parc De La Villette | Paris, France | Bernard Tschumi

Le Grand Palais | Paris, France

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Ecole dArchitecture in Nantes | Nantes, France | Lacaton & Vassal

Le Channel | Calais, France | Patrick Bouchain_Franois Delarozire_ Francis Peduzzi

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La Friche Belle De Mai | Marseille, France | Patrick Bouchain

Les Frigos | Paris, France | formerly la gare frigorifique de paris-ivry

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Concepts.a broad abstract idea or a guiding general principle, e.g. one that determines how a person or culture behaves, or how nature, reality, or events are perceived

312

The project started with the idea of creating a connection between the

site, The Globe Trade building, and its surrounding context, Milliken

State Park and the Dequindre Cut. These pathways would not only allow

for a connection between external program of the park but begin to

help formulate and establish an organization and flow for the internal

relationships of the project within the Globe itself. The pathways were

developed in response to the current structural and organizational

systems established within the Globe Building, allowing the intervention

of puncturing, or rather opening the facade to be less invasive and

more logical, pragmatic. In order to render explicit this new move, the

idea was to paint the area of the floor with a shiny, glossy bright color so

as to reflect and create new visual spaces. A study of various pathway

organizations was taken in order to best establish connection points

across the site as well as creating the most interesting means of cutting

through the complex. Each study includes the rotation of the original

grid set putting the participants in constant communication with the

systems currently in play.

The Cut-Through,a destination connection.

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In the last 50 years, Detroit has been home

to racial tension, riot, protest, strike,

automotive and architectural decay; ruin

porn is at the forefront representing

Detroits historical aftermath; meanwhile,

most recently there have been sparks of

creativity beginning to fill the voids and ignite

a storm of positivity for a city deemed by

media as negative and bleak. The city itself is

now becoming the source of inspiration for

artists, local and abroad. Art is one of the

last things outsiders associate with Detroit.

But drive the streets and you quickly realize

the city possesses an energetic, grassroots

creative class that not only spreads color,

whimsy, and provocation across the

landscape, but also serves as an engine of

redevelopment.3

Branching off this original research, the

objective was to transform the Globe Trade

Building into an artists incubator, a provider

of space, utility, resource, and machinery.

With rentable studios and collaboration

space, the process of making and production

would become transparent, and the public

would begin to engage with and be apart

of this process. The hope is to create a

central hub of energy for the city and through

teamwork and collaboration, begin to

redevelop the visual landscape of Detroit as a

means to fight blight with art and vision.

The Relationship, a project from research.

3 Ivan Adelson, Art in the Streets, Detroit. The Normal, vol. 1_research.*62

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The strategy seemed quite simple. The site

was provided, The Globe Trading Company

building sits at the lot bound by Orleans

Street (to the west), Atwater Street (to the

South), Franklin Street (to the North), and

the Dequindre Cut Greenway (to the East). To

the South and East of the site is both built

and proposed land for the Milliken State

Park (which includes the East Riverfront

Conservancy project). In order to fullfil

the parameter of this project, my proposal

engages the idea of further developing the

state park. The Globe buildings lot, and the

lot adjacent to the west were proposed to

be additions to the state park as well. This

would in turn create a central island of public

activity, that which is the Globe Building. By

turning the Globe into the central artery of

the park place, all aims for the project would

be able to coalesce in one single setting.

The project elements would carry from within

the Globe Building across and throughout the

new park landscape in order to establish a

visual and experiential connection between

the building and its new context. There is

a game of new and old in play while trying

to negotiate and maintain the architectural

integrity of the Globe Trade Building.

The Strategy, a siting in Detroit.

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The plan for the complex was derived from the initial cut through

passages. These pathways helped to delineate an organizational pattern

and flow of movment throughout the project. The ground floor is seen

as the primary exhibition space, leaving the scale of the spaces for the

most part as is, allowing for large scale installation and performance

to take place. In addition, there is a small black box theater, a bar

for daytime and night-time festivities, as well as the fabrication shop

space. On the first floor, we begin to move up into the more private

spaces. The studios are available for rent and can be outfitted for the

live/work scenario as part of the project brief, accompanied by a fine

boutique restaurant and a gallery space overlooking the vast ground

level. The second floor holds the least of the program. There are

additional studio spaces along the southern face of the building with

a retail area running up through the roof truss of the machine shop

addition. Again, ideas are in constant play with the current logics set

up within the building...where were programs places previously? how

can this new program mesh with the history of the space?

The Plan, an experience.

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In reaction to the idea of painting the ground surface to highlight

the pathways through the building, the concept of lighting the Globe

Trade building became the focus of attention for the remainder of

the project. The lights would be carried over the same pathways,

another endeavor of rendering the space explicit throughout the

project. However, the lights were beginning to play with the notion

of scale, by both decreasing and expanding the scale to and from

the manufacturing and the human levels. The lighting tracks create

volumes of light (as seen in the drawing on the left). It would be the

lighting system that begins to create the atmospheric energy and

productivity of the space. The light becomes the beacon for which

the new Globe stands in place for. It is atmospheric, it is spatial, it

is welcoming. In addition, as a means to begin connecting the public

park exterior program to that which takes place inside the Globe, the

lights again serve as the connection point during the day carrying

ideas and people to and from, and overnight the constant glow

radiates and transforms the landscape.

The Light, a delineation and organization.

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Part of my task for this project is to use a light hand of intervention. Essentially clean up the space to the point of inhabitablity, and as the

progress is made within the city at large, or even site specific, then further development can take place. The project is based entirely on the

current building; current systems of organization, strucutral layout, facade patterning, etc... The elevations were highly considered in designing

the cut through pathways, as additional garage type doors and openings needed to be created so as to have a smooth transition from the exterior

to the interior. Here in the drawings above, I have highlighted the areas of interest in red, making sure no windows were interrupted; ideally

nothing irregular or out character would be taking place.

The Building, an exterior elevation.

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The Pavilions, a new structure.Derived off of the geometric organizaton and configuration of the facade, these pavilions would become the end game for the project. A place to

house public park activities and amenities to fully encapsulate the Globe Trade building, and stand true the objective of this project to establish an

island of activity within the Milliken State Park. The pavilions utilize stock material so as to not require customized pieces and or assembly, but as

they build out from the facade in single sets, they start to rotate and reorganize themselves into a framework for the inhabitants and participants

of the G-TAC to reformulate and establish place within site. The bike tours and rental stand could move into one of these pavilions, an outdoor

music venue could inhabit one, bring programs like Arts in the Parks to this new site in Detroit, The Detroit Electronic Music Fesitval, etc... There

are many ideas and uses of these pavilions and perhaps they do not get used, they could still attract an audience to partake in activities around

them, the space within the Globe and around the new park boundaries will be acitivated by the simple energy these creative individuals possess.

327

Realizations.to achieve something. transitive verb to fulfill a specific vision, plan, or potential.

328

1. a system for achieving objective:

a method of doing something that is worked out in advance.

2. a layout:

a drawing or diagram on a horizontal plane of the layout or

arrangement of something.

3. to work out how to do something:

transitive and intransitive verb to work out in advance how

something is to be done or organized.

The Plan.

!"#

Industrial Loft Building

Open to BelowOpen to Below

Open to Below

!"#

Industrial Loft BuildingL

Open to BelowwO

Open to Belown eOpen to Belowl Machine Shop Addition

Shipping & Receiving

$

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1. an energy producing brightness:

the energy producing a sensation of brightness that makes

seeing possible.

2. a general notice:

general or public notice, attention, or knowledge.

3. a way something is viewed:

the manner in which somebody or something is regarded,

especially by the public.

The Light.

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!"#

341

!"#

343

!"#

345

1. an outdoor structure:

a summerhouse or other often ornamental building in a park,

fair, or garden, used for shelter and entertainment.

2. an exhibition tent:

a large tent or other temporary structure used for displaying

or exhibiting things.

3. an annex:

a detached building that forms part of a complex of a hospital

or other large public building.

The Pavilion.

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!"#

!"#

!%

350

!"#

!"#

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GO.Detroit

Bruce Findling

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1 2

3 4

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567

359

11

9

10

8

360

5 m

iles

10 m

iles

25 m

iles

Slow Fast

Kayak: 5 mph

Jet-Ski: 65 mph

Inboard Cruiser: 30 mph

Sail Boat: 10 mph

Fishing Boat: 15 mph

Motorcycle: 75 mph

Scooter: 25 mph

Eelctric Bike: 15 mph

Cigarette Boat: 100+ mph

Skate: 10 mph

Walk: 2.5 mph

Automobile: 75 mph

Snowmobile: 75 mph

Run: 8 mph

Bike: 12 mph

Blade: 10 mph

Ski: 15 mph

Human Propulsion

echanical PropulsioneMM

Marine Propulsion

50 m

iles

Detroiters have had a long-time love affair with

transportation. Known for the birthplace of

the mass produced automobile, the city sits

on a network of roads, rails, rivers, and paths.

This holds true at any scale within Detroit, as

proven by the site of the Globe Building which

straddles the Detroit River, Atwater and Orleans

St., the Dequindre Cut and Detroit Riverwalk.

Immediately surrounding the Globe are parks,

marinas, and concert venues. Pan out further

and the site becomes a part of a larger network

of riverfront bars, biking and walking trails,

inner city clubs, and open fields. In its current

state, the Globe has become an abandoned

legacy to the industrial might D

Documents

The Normal – volume 3