Author

Matthew Piper

Matthew Piper is a writer and photographer covering art, architecture, and sustainable development in Detroit. Follow him on Twitter @matthewsaurus and on Instagram @matthewjpiper. Find more of his work at matthewjpiper.com.

Matthew Piper's Latest Articles

Freshwater Metropolis: the underground scene

Matthew Piper attended the Sierra Club's recent "Green Your Neighborhood" forum, where people learned how to decrease water consumption, save money, and reduce the disposal of harmful chemicals into the water system. Here is his report.

Green City Diaries: Paradise found

A few weeks into spring has lightened our hearts and brightened our spirits, helping us turn our attention to the city's natural environment hiding in plain sight. Matthew Piper finds Detroiters who know the landscape inside and outside. 

Green City Diaries: Shear Innovation, Part 2

In this second installment of his journey into the green potential of hair salons, Matthew Piper visits Jen Willemsen at Midtown's Curl Up & Dye, who started making her own products when she couldn't find comparable non-toxic brands.

Green City Diaries: Shear Innovation, Part 1

Sustainability and hair styling go hand in hand, says Green City diarist Matt Piper, who visits the Social Club Grooming Company this week and Curl Up and Dye next week to find out what they are doing to positively impact the environment. 

Green City Diaries: Investing in sustainability

When President Obama visited Detroit in December, he stopped at Detroit Diesel to announce a new $100 million investment in advanced, environmentally sound, manufacturing. Matthew Piper reports from the far West Side. 

Green City Diaries: Best of the year that was

'Tis the season for reflection, among everything else. As the first year of the Green City Diaries comes to a close and a second year starts taking shape, writer Matthew Piper deviates from his formula to write a diary entry of his own.

Green City Diaries: Good food, the new frontier

In this month's entry, Matt Piper gets people thinking about the empowering simplicity of health, quality, freshness and convenience when it comes to the food we eat. Not to mention advocacy for a better way of life. 

Pop goes the West Village

A distinct neighborhood with character, Detroit's West Village is an East Side residential gem, filled with early 20th century houses and apartment buildings. Now, commercial development is beginning to pop up. Matthew Piper gives us a quick tour.   

Ramona Gilgor with Detroit Institute of Technology students
Green City Diaries: Sustainability, the next generation

Detroit city kids are into transformational change, getting turned on by green living science projects, taking positive ownership of their own neighborhoods. Matthew Piper likes what he's hearing. Bonus video by Matt Dibble. 

Mr. Mies’ neighborhood

New book contains insightful essays, interviews with current and former residents, arresting portrait photography by local photographers, as well as an abundance of historic images, says our high rise specialist, Matt Piper.

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