Kristin Palm writes about several recent small-scale infrastructural projects in my hometown of Detroit in Metropolis Mag’s P/O/V. In A Walk in the Park(s) I am struck by two “raw” projects that make do with what they’ve got while superimposing new readings of the city on top of the old. The Dequindre Cut, Detroit’s grassroots counterpoint to New York’s Highline, takes a different approach to re-stitching vibrant areas of the city fabric in contrast to the former’s en masse real estate speculation.
The Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit also takes a similar approach. The museum, literally carved from a former car dealership on Detroit’s Woodward Avenue that had its façade stripped away during the artery’s widening generations ago, has been re-faced with a series of artworks and signage that signal the nature of the cavernous interior galleries it shields.
Palm goes on to say that these projects aren’t “raw” because it’s the hip thing to do, but rather “because it’s the Detroit thing to do.”
How do they do it in your city?
September 9th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
Beyond the razing and then raising that seem to define the stretching Beltway region, there are some moments of joy. For example, Silver Spring is trying to reinvent itself with the AFI Silver Theatre and building a hub of entertainment and recreation around the Discovery building. I am not fond of the city but, beyond the vertical growth of that area, I think its one true shining moment is the penguin mural on the wall at the S.S. metro stop. A visible homage to art – unexpected and smile-inducing.
September 10th, 2008 at 7:58 am
This is a similar project, although much longer, here in the UK:
http://blackcountryup.co.uk/page.asp?PageRef=3
It was one of four finalists in a public vote where the winner received some £50m ($100m) in state lottery money.
It came second…