Manufacturing and Mutation: Pre-fab Design: March 2013

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Data Driven Detroit - Maps

Number of Households per block
http://open.cridata.org/maps/mapas/map.html?mapkey=d3#

% Vacant Houses by Block
http://open.cridata.org/maps/mapas/map.html?mapkey=d3#

Saturday, March 9, 2013

The introduction of new infrastructure (tree farm + work/live housing) will change the dynamics of the community. Example of a previous community is the view of Cadillac Blvd taken in 2009, showing a vibrant neighborhood based on having *occupied* houses located on either side of the street.

Cadillac Blvd - Detroit - 2009 Image of street life on site

The question becomes how the housing interacts with the grid, and how it disrupts or does not interfere with the previous concept of street side community.

The pre-fab housing can create two areas of community - one from the perspective of bringing individual families together, and another from bringing together a working community. The question becomes if these are separated or if they are one and the same. Is the Ford House and community based only on utilitarianism and work? Or is it a combination of family + work finding a balance between the two?

Condition 1: Pennsylvania St - Open Land

Condition 2: Crane St - Few lived in homes

Condition 3: Pennsylvania St - Several lived in homes

Condition 4: Cadillac Blvd - Most homes occupied

Idea for site strategy: interact with existing infrastructure - connect to housing with tree farm - using angles of trees to establish visibility and create connections.

Possible site strategy - trees as connecting element between existing single family homes and new live/work community,

Another iteration of site strategy with smaller decentralized live/work communities.

Iteration of site strategy exemplifying connections between new and existing infrastructure through visual and physical paths created by tree farm planting layout,

Concept intersection of reaction to Detroit and plans for Ford House

Study of respecting existing grid system - not desirable for creating real integration of groupings.

MUTANT DETROIT - Collage responses to site

Below are collages of my reactions to Detroit. The combination/contrast of decay with ordinary life, and the unexpected transformations of areas of the city were the most influential to me. The idea that different areas of the city are in varying states of decay and states of growth which change within short periods of time is intriguing. The experience of Detroit is tied to the exact time of the visit - I believe it would have felt different a year before and will be a noticeably different experience a year later. This amount of change within the urban structure - mainly due to decay - creates the impression that the city is alive and changing constantly.

The amount of change which is occurring within the city lends the idea that the city itself is mutating as it reacts to its economic conditions. The next step in its mutation can be designed - as a combination of urban decay and cared-for homes with urban farming and live/work housing communities interjected into the existing structure. This step should react to the changes which have already happened within Detroit, and intersect the current infrastructure with a respect for its past transformations.

http://camilojosevergara.com/Detroit/Former-Ransom-Gillis-Mansion/1/
A compilation of photos by Camilo Jose Vergara showing the changes in the Ransom Gillis Mansion in Detroit between 1993 and 2012.