Buzz

Core77 blogger hits Detroit, swoons over people and place

Core77 Tuesday, July 31, 2012

We were trolling for Detroit media love when we chanced upon this beauty of a blog. Not much more introduction needed.

An excerpt:

True to form, DC3 introduced me to Peggy Brennan, co-founder of the Green Garage. The converted Model T showroom serves as a demonstration of down-to-earth sustainability (no pun intended), as well as a business incubator (everyone incubates these days) and an advisor on integrating sustainable practices for any interested member of the community. Brennan and her husband, along with 200 volunteers, spent two years designing how to best renovate the showroom and looked to the Passivhaus for inspiration. With 19-inches of insulation and triple-glazed windows, the Green Garage only costs $300 to heat for a year.

Read the entire travelog here.

Curbed Detroit says financing, construction coming soon for Whitney Building

Curbed Detroit Tuesday, July 24, 2012

We've been waiting to hear that the Whitney Building was ready to start redevelopment work ever since last October, when we held our Next Big Thing event there. We'll be waiting to get the official word and will bring that to you as soon as we have it.

In the meantime, check this out:

The Roxbury Group is the project developer; these are the same people behind The Auburn in Midtown. They have told Curbed that they are currently almost done gathering all the finances together and construction will begin immediately after.

Read more here.

Tour the Villages, buy a stunning one-of-a-kind house

The Villages Community Development Corporation Tuesday, May 15, 2012

We'll keep it short and simple: all need you need to know is that the Villages, a fabulous, historically-significant neighborhood a quick jog or bike ride from downtown, is hosting a real estate tour of select properties this weekend. More info here.

It coincides with the re-emergence of the pop-up Tashmoo Biergarten, which will pour Michigan craft beers Saturday and Sunday from noon to 9 p.m. More on the beer here.

Yamasaki's McGregor Memorial at WSU to get $1.8 million restoration

Detroit Free Press Tuesday, May 01, 2012

Last week we were pleased to report that the Society of Architectural Historians held their recent conference in Detroit, including sessions inside Wayne State's McGregor Memorial Center, designed by Minoru Yamasaki.

Right on cue, another local story appeared in HuffPost Detroit on the great architect who began his practice in Detroit in the 1950s. An excerpt::

The jewel-like McGregor Center has long been considered by many to be among the finest buildings designed by Yamasaki, the Detroit-based architect best known for designing the World Trade Center towers in New York City. Yamasaki died in 1986.

The McGregor Center was built in 1958. The pools remained filled with water until the early '80s, when leaks and other functional problems led Wayne State to drain them. The pools have remained empty and something of an eyesore ever since.

Read more here.

'Urban Futures' provokes discussion in Lafayette Park

rogueHAA Tuesday, April 17, 2012

If an evening of exploring the role of large scale urban visions in post-industrial cities sounds like your cuppa tea -- as it is for us --- this is your weekend huckleberry.

The panel discussion "Urban Futures" in Lafayette Park will ask some pertinent questions about Detroit Modernism. Some of those questions include: Detroit’s Lafayette Park development has achieved many of the goals of Modernist planning and urban renewal, creating arguably one of the most vibrant and diverse neighborhoods in the city: does this speak to the unique conditions of Detroit? Does Detroit offer similar opportunities for avant-garde planning and large scale urban interventions today? What successes and sacrifices accompany the Modernist social agenda, and are there lessons to be learned as we seek to engage in equitable and sustainable redevelopment here and in other post-industrial cities?

“Urban Futures" is April 21. Panel Discussion: 6 - 8 p.m. Reception: 8 - 9 p.m. At Lafayette Park Retail, 1565 East Lafayette, Detroit.

Freep's John Gallagher takes a deeper dive into downtown and Midtown

Detroit Free Press Tuesday, April 03, 2012

When John Gallagher of the Free Press talks, we listen. When he writes it, we read it. Like this timely push back at those who suggest that all the metrics don't add up to success for downtown and Midtown.

An excerpt:

Yet at a casual glance, the downtown and Midtown markets appear to be booming. Rental apartment buildings are filled to capacity and running waiting lists. Downtown's newest hotels, including the Westin Book Cadillac and Doubletree Fort Shelby, enjoy healthy occupancy rates well above the local average.

There's more. Read on here.

Keep on reimagining Detroit

Facebook Tuesday, March 27, 2012

We're fans of the Freep's John Gallagher and his Reimagining Detroit book, published last year by Wayne State University Press. So when we heard that a film based on the book was in progress and a 30-minute segment was being screened downtown at the M@dison Building this week, we jumped all over it.

You're invited as well. Go here to register.

Great Dane Jan Gehl weighs in on placemaking

Economics of Place Tuesday, March 13, 2012

While hanging out on the Economics of Place website, we spotted this gem:

Danish Architect Jan Gehl is one of the giants in the field of building communities around the human scale. His work is renowned around the world and his thoughts and ideas are sure to inspire even the most jaded of urbanists. It is about a half hour video, but well worth the time.

Yes, it certainly is. Read the rest of the story and watch the video here.

Student-journalist imagines new life in historic Detroit buildings

HuffPost Detroit Tuesday, March 06, 2012

We get excited when student-journalists bust out into the local spotlight. We found this one by a Detroit architecture loving student Chris Zadorozny in HuffPost Detroit. An excerpt:

With the recent push of hotels in the city now, including the Westin Book-Cadillac, the DoubleTree Fort Shelby, and the soon-to-be-renovated David Whitney Building into an Aloft Boutique hotel, this could work again. Yes, the Marriott at the Renaissance Center is right down the street, and most of the high-end visitors stay at the Book-Cadillac, the views could entice many to stay.

Read on here.

Is Packard plant going down? Maybe, maybe not

Detroit Free Press Tuesday, March 06, 2012

Finances appear to be an issue for Cristini, who did not return several calls from the Free Press on Friday. He told the Environmental Protection Agency last year that he didn't have the resources to pay $35,000 for cleanup costs at the plant. His company, Bioresource, owes $760,000 in back city and county property taxes. The city has a separate lien against the owner for $400,000 in unpaid taxes, a spokeswoman said.

here.

Like the Broderick Tower? So do we

Facebook Tuesday, February 28, 2012

We were trolling around Facebook the other day and found this page dedicated to the Broderick Tower, one of downtown's skyscraping gems. No, scratch that. It is one of the great buildings to ever rise over the North American continent -- and you can quote us on that.

Find the page, and "like" the great tower, here.

Detroit rises and shines for National Geographic Traveler

National Geographic Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Writer Andrew Nelson saw plenty that impressed him on a return visit to Detroit at the behest of National Geographer Traveler. One thing that caught his eye were the art deco towers, which he says "make those in Miami’s South Beach look like anthills.

Then he met up with architectural historian Dan Austin. "Detroit has one of the largest collections of Roaring ’20s architecture anywhere in the country," Austin told him. "And it’s not just art deco buildings, either--a town house development, Lafayette Park, is the largest collection of mid-century modernist Mies van der Rohe residences in the world." Well said, Dan.

Keep reading here.

Urban Times calls for city solutions to help citizens across the globe

Urban Times Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Self-described Optimistic Forward Thinking Online Magazine Urban Times got it so right when it generated this original response to smart cities. There's a lot of good info to be gleaned from this piece by Sascha Haselmayer for anyone interested in solutions to urban issues impacting every global citizen. Hear that Detroiters?

Check it out here.

Deadline approaches for 2012 Kresge Art Fellowships

The Kresge Foundation Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Kresge Foundation's call for applications from Metro Detroit's creative leaders in the literary and performing arts ends next week.

Kresge Arts in Detroit will provide 24 winners from Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties "whose commitment to innovation and artistic achievement are evident in the quality of their work" with a $25,000 stipend.

Applications must be filled out online and are due Feb. 1. The fellowships are funded by the Kresge Foundation and administered by the College for Creative Studies.

For more information, visit Kresgeartsindetroit.org.

AIA: Detroit part of "New Big Three" for practicing architects

American Institute of Architects Tuesday, January 24, 2012

In the voluminous, intriguing scholarly piece, writer Wellington Reiter describes Detroit, New Orleans and Phoenix as U.S. cities "that have visited the frontlines of the future and are reporting back to the rest of the us, a bit wobbly and worse for wear, but still standing and in some respects, regaining their footing."

The rest of his paper is even better. Read it here.

Architecture : Buzz