Thought Leadership

Opportunity Detroit and Rock Ventures LLC sponsored this 2013 international ideas competition to create a new vision for one of the Detroit’s most important urban sites and to transform the perception of the City’s downtown.  Progressive|AE contributed a proposal for the site that updates Detroit’s tradition as a city that makes for the 21^st century.

C O M P E T I T I O N   P R O P O S A L

Detroit is a city of makers that created the middle class and fueled the industrialization of the world.  Hudson’s was known as a world class place for commerce and entertainment–a community destination.  Our vision for Detroit is to give rise to a “maker” movement to fuel the new industrial revolution grounded in the fundamentals of rapid making, social innovation and artistry. It will be an innovation zone for locally inspired commerce.

 [concept]

“Routine is the enemy of innovation.”

Our proposal matches the requirements of a Makerspace with an atmosphere of improvisation.  make[it]DETROIT will generate the spaces to:  Create, produce, sell, live, and play.

Makerspace: [verb] The desktop changes everything. An active, collaborative digital environment feeding fab labs, cutting, milling, routing and printing everything. It empowers individual innovation with open source collaboration. Often it is a sustainable additive process.

Our proposal is artisanal at its heart, empowering the unique and encouraging the pirate in everyone.  Chris Anderson stated in the book “Makers”

“The idea of factory is changing. Just as the web democratized innovation in bits, a new class of rapid prototyping technologies, from 3D printers to laser cutters, is democratizing innovation in atoms. We have experienced an explosion of innovation and entrepreneurship …network effects : when you connect people and ideas, they grow. It’s a virtual circle- more people combined create more value…”

 [planning]

The urban condition, form, use and patterns of the city informed the planning of make[it]Detroit.  Fronting Woodward Avenue is a makerspace. The height and depth of the architecture match that of the adjacent Compuware’s building, creating an urban street edge with a harmonious scale. A live/play urban development is placed along Farmer Street, generating a presence respectful of the existing context. Utilizing a lower pedestrian scale and responding to the mass of the district enriches the activity and experience of residential life.

Continuing the reinforcement of place, we created a transparent and protected entry level. This “memory of absence” reflects the site’s 15 years of vacancy and inspires connectivity and engagement, forming vistas and pulling movement through the ground level activities. The transparency diminishes the impenetrable edge of most urban structures and promotes pedestrian movement on the streets of Detroit.

[Form]

Makerspace modules provide flexibility in size, form, and volume; combining the fluid customization of 3D printing into the building and development process. This variability provides the framework for an organic ebb and flow over time. “Make it when you need it,” like a honeycomb. As the honeycomb; the module based form emphasizes each piece as part of a whole, while eroding the large planar scale of the urban block.

[Materiality]

The structural frame has the same maker integrity. It is also cellular, inspired by the cross section of a human bone; hard outer shell with strength provided by the density of the cells. The frame organically grows from the existing structure of the parking garage creating a

innovation in atoms. We have experienced an explosion of innovation and entrepreneurship …network effects : when you connect people and ideas, they grow. It’s a virtual circle- more people combined create more value…”

 [planning]

The urban condition, form, use and patterns of the city informed the planning of make[it]Detroit.  Fronting Woodward Avenue is a makerspace. The height and depth of the architecture match that of the adjacent Compuware’s building, creating an urban street edge with a harmonious scale. A live/play urban development is placed along Farmer Street, generating a presence respectful of the existing context. Utilizing a lower pedestrian scale and responding to the mass of the district enriches the activity and experience of residential life.

Continuing the reinforcement of place, we created a transparent and protected entry level. This “memory of absence” reflects the site’s 15 years of vacancy and inspires connectivity and engagement, forming vistas and pulling movement through the ground level activities. The transparency diminishes the impenetrable edge of most urban structures and promotes pedestrian movement on the streets of Detroit.

[Form]

Makerspace modules provide flexibility in size, form, and volume; combining the fluid customization of 3D printing into the building and development process. This variability provides the framework for an organic ebb and flow over time. “Make it when you need it,” like a honeycomb. As the honeycomb; the module based form emphasizes each piece as part of a whole, while eroding the large planar scale of the urban block.

[Materiality]

The structural frame has the same maker integrity. It is also cellular, inspired by the cross section of a human bone; hard outer shell with strength provided by the density of the cells. The frame organically grows from the existing structure of the parking garage creating a triangulating web of support.

The figure ground pattern of Detroit is reflected in the vegetated and glass “Blanket” that drapes over the east and west blocks. The glass is layered with photovoltaic cells to harness the energy of the sun, fueling the maker revolution that will be make[it]DETROIT.