Foundations 19 – Infrastructure Space

Metropolitan scale mobile workshop

This mobile workshop, led by Dan Kinkhead and Tom Sherry, inves- tigated the adaptation, reuse, and repositioning of infrastructure.

The first stop was Michigan Central Station. This gigantic edifice, built between 1910 and 1913, is a registered historic landmark – and has been vacant since the mid-1980s. It’s still unclear how it will be used in the future. The group moved on to the “Ponyride.” Here, artists, entrepreneurs, and organizations that support social development of the city have moved into the disused industrial building where they find plenty of space for development. These engaged people exchange their knowledge, their resources, and particularly their ideas among one another – and in doing so help Detroit overcome its crisis. The group then embarked on a boat tour. This gave them entirely new perspectives on the fallen and gradually recovering city. The ferry departed from the Port of Detroit, which is growing increas- ingly important, passed West Riverfront Park – a lively area of West Riverfront, which is slated for renewal in the next few years – and historic Fort Wayne, and finally reached Belle Isle, Detroit’s most majestic example of urban civic space. The workshop finished with a tour of the East Side. Here the group saw numerous examples of efforts being taken to make Detroit fit for the future once again: infrastructures being adapted and neigh- borhoods stabilized by means of multiple small interventions.

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