Thesis Design and Research

The

Market Connection A Youth Center for Creative Food Entrepreneurship

Annie Ledbury

aledbury@gmail.com www.wix.aledbury.com/architecture University of Oregon- Portland Urban Architecture Program Regenerative Design Terminal Studio 2014 Professor Hajo Neis, with Vanessa Cass, Jim Pettinari, Josh Hilton, + Lloyd Lindley

Table of Contents

the market connection project research urban design + landscape street design architecture structure + construction process + models

Images from Eastern Market’s Instagram

p. 04 p. 10 p. 48 p. 64 p. 80 p.112 p.120

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The Market Connection What can design do to foster economic self sufficiency and rebuild post-bankruptcy Detroit from the bottom up?

This urban design and architecture project strengthens the Eastern Market District with a creative food hub for youth that leverages all parts of the teaching power of the food system.

The goal of this project is to create a district and building that catalyzes connections between: youth + opportunity people from the city + suburbs food products + buyers Eastern Market + residential areas + downtown • areas divided by highways • • • •

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Proposal A microcosm of the Eastern Market District as a regional creative food hub, this center is a place where youth (aged 12-18) learn how to process city-grown food into products, create new product ideas, and share production facilities and amenities with the broader community. It will also house a commercial kitchen where young entrepreneurs (aged 18-24) share tools, resources, experiences, and receive training.

To increase the diversity and density of the district, the project integrates residential live/work units and various scales of food related retail. This includes micro-retail run by students as a part of the projectbased education approach that has proven successful for the Detroit Food Academy program.

1.

Youth awareness, pride, and ownership of a high quality, interconnected local food system

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Create a walkable gateway to the district across I-75 to Gratiot Ave, downtown, and adjacent neighborhoods

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for the diverse youth of all neighborhoods of Detroit to come together

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Encourage learning through making by providing resources and a safe space for creative experimentation Project goals.

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Project Users + Partners The youth center for creative food entrepreneurship would work with the Eastern Market Development Corporation, the Detroit Public School System, Gratiot Central Market, the Center for Creative Studies’ Community Arts Partnership Campus to realize the project.

Nonprofit anchor tenants include:

DFA partners with local high schools, educators, and food entrepreneurs to deliver a year-round curriculum that culminates in the design and launch of students’ own triple bottom line (people, planet, profit) food business. Currently, the program operates as a 25-week after school program and summertime small batch entrepreneurship camp.

FoodLab is a community of food entrepreneurs committed to making the possibility of good food in Detroit a sustainable reality. They design, build, and maintain systems to grow a diverse ecosystem of triple-bottom-line food businesses as part of a good food movement that is accountable to all Detroiters.

This project proposes an expansion to an all-year program in the form of a new school.

This project proposes an expansion from a social network to a physical building for sharing resources.

Though the center will be open to everyone in the community, the target population is high school and young adult users. Unlike younger students, the 12-24 year old population is most compatible with the open education system and industrial nature of valueadded food manufacturing. These students are also more likely to be selfsufficient enough to travel to a magnet school on their own.

• From diverse neighborhoods of Detroit • Millennial generation, entrepreneurial

spirit • Use public transit, interested in biking • May be interested in college, trade school, or starting their own business

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Research

“...the city isn’t too big, the economy is just too small” -Toni Griffin Chief Urban Planner for Detroit Works TED City2.0, 2013

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Location Detroit is the biggest city in the state of Michigan, with approximately 714,000 1 residents in 139 square miles . The city abuts the Detroit River, which connects two of the Great Lakes, Eerie and Huron.

This was a hub for shipping throughout the Midwest. The city is surrounded by a large, relatively prosperous metropolitan region with an international airport. However, there is a deeply felt divide between the city and its suburbs, referred to as “the elephant on 8 mile,” the street that is the dividing line 2.

Eastern Market District is located less than a mile northeast from the heart of downtown, but is isolated by vast highway overpasses and blighted vacant areas.

Radial arterial corridors have potential to connect them.

Despite its challenges, Detroit has a unique character and set of assets that make it a great place to live, work and play: • Proximity to the Great Lakes, Eerie Canal • Easy trade with Canada, Toronto, & Chicago • Strong social culture, city pride & identity • Birthplace of Motown, electronic music, strong arts history • Historic existing building stock • Growing season and agricultural climate • Skilled technical labor force • Growing “Made in Detroit” brand is attracting regional & global interest

michigan

[1] US Census [2] paraphrased from FoodLab community meeting: Jan 4, 2014

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Location Detriot, MI

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Map of the city of Detroit.

City boundaries are indicated in bold black, the Detroit river and arterial streets in yellow, and the project design area in red.

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History + Opportunity The city of Detroit was developed in a bubble of economic prosperity generated by the automobile manufacturing industry.

The influx of resources from the “Big Three” automakers attracted development, money, and immigration from other regions of the country. The morphological structure of the city was built relatively quickly and in an unbalanced way. When the industry left, the city was ill equipped to bounce back. Civil unrest, along with many other factors, led to a hollowing out of the central city in favor of the suburbs beginning in the 1960s as a result of segregation, and white flight. When the changing global economy caused the auto companies to close down and move to less expensive markets, Detroit was left in a downward spiral of unemployment, decentralized populations, and a corrupt city government. Regional ‘brain drain’ is another problem, a phenomenon where most educated young people leave the state in order to find meaningful work.

This makes it difficult to rebuild the city from the inside out. Inequality and income disparity are compounded when taxpaying businesses and residents move to the more affluent suburbs instead of investing in the city itself. Today, only 30% of the city’s

jobs are held by Detroiters. The rest are commuters.

During the recent economic downturn, the GM bailout and city bankruptcy of 2013 brought Detroit into the public eye.

Essential to the success of the next era of development in Detroit is organic growth that stems from the city’s existing physical resources and the cultural strengths of its people. The first phases of this process have already begun, centered on points of interest that are beginning to attract a creative class from outside of the Detroit area. But this influx of interest has its downside as well. Gentrification, and displacement of existing residents add to the difficulties of the city.

A new, resilient urban ecosystem with a diverse and self-sufficient economy is what the city needs to begin to rebuild following the recent bankruptcy crisis. Detroit will never return to what some consider its golden era of prosperity. Though the battle with blight, corruption, and vacancy rates the physical remnants of urban decay that remain offer a unique city-building opportunity.

Abandoned, fire-damaged church on Jefferson Ave. Summer 2013.

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1949

1967

Historic Image Collection, Detroit Public Library

2013

Satellite Photos show vacancy, urban renewal, and disruption of neighborhoods due to highway construction

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Detroit Future City The people of Detroit have a difficult relationship with urban planning and architectural “guinea pigging”. In 1990, the first comprehensive planning report proposed a large-scale relocation of residents to a consolidated area to save on infrastructure costs, known as neighborhood of choice.

Though this was a practical solution to save money on services like fire, water, and increase the density of the many residential neighborhoods, it would also uproot many impoverished people from perhaps the first land their family had ever owned after moving north to work in the auto industry during the Great Migration. Existing support networks and neighborhood history would be dissolved. There was public outcry.

In the years since, there have been many other planning efforts and interest from the design community, with not much to show for it that could actually help stop the downward spiral of poverty, austerity. Why is this type of planning problem more difficult than others? Because it is not a sudden catastrophe, but a slow death.1 This condition is not unique to Detroit, and it is one that requires a re imagining of the role of the urban planner or designer in shrinking cities, where

Most Important Problems: • Economy & Poverty • Vacant Land & Blight • Safety & Crime [especially arson] • Education • Health & Obesity • Infrastructure • Equitable Transportation Planning Priorities: • Economic Growth • Land Use • City Systems • Neighborhoods • Land & Building Asset Assessment

the task is not managing growth but managing decline.

Detroit Works was an ambitious community outreach, policy, and planning research project that took place between 2010 and 2012. The final 350 page report is a gathered from 30,000 conversations,

[1] Czerniak, Julia. Formerly Urban: Projecting Rust Belt Futures. New York, NY: Princeton Architectural Press, 2013. Book.

Primary Employment Districts2

digital/ creative eds & meds industrial/ creative global trade/ industrial

70,000 survey responses, and a total of 163,000 connections with the people of Detroit on their priorities, opinions, and specific technical strategies for the future of the city. The project was a massive collaboration between public, private, nonprofit, and university groups, of how the city’s people envision their city

in the future, and how experts believe we can achieve that vision, and communicate it in a legible way to the general public.

Future phases of Detroit Future City include pilot projects that fit into the strategic framework, and are shared as case studies.

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“Much discussion and debate has focused on the availability of jobs and the readiness of Detroit’s workforce to take those potential jobs. That discussion should be framed not as an “either/or” but as a “both/and”. Too few jobs, high unemployment, poverty rates, the challenges of K-12 educational reform, and reduced workforce development funding all have an impact, not only on household incomes, but on taxes and fees the city takes in to run and maintain essential services.

Addressing this “chicken and egg” problem requires a strategy that addresses job creation in Detroit and the reform of K-12 and adult education as equally urgent priorities”.

-Detroit Future City

Employment Comparison: Private sector jobs, area, and population [1]

[1] Graphics: Detroit Future City, US Census, 2010, 2007 Survey of Business Owners,

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Population Density + Food Access Food access and the incidence of food deserts in the city of Detroit is a documented problem. Despite the recent interest and rebuilding efforts taking place in Downtown and Midtown neighborhoods are still less densely populated than other places further from the core. The west side is generally more densely populated in comparison with the east side. Downtown has fewer residents, despite the number of businesses that have taken root.

In neighborhoods without a grocery store, families have to rely on corner markets, convenience stores, or have access to a car to travel for groceries. Fast food can seem like a cheap and easy substitute in comparison, which leads to obesity, lack of nutrition awareness, and disconnection from the food system.

[1] Data Driven Detroit Grocery stores are noted with a green dot.

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Transportation + Schools Despite being known as The Motor City, more than 70,000 Detroiters (almost 10% of the population) do not have access to a car. Approximately 85% of city residents live outside of the downtown core. Public transportation is very difficult to navigate, and can take 3+ hours to travel 2. As a magnet school, most students will not live within a 1/4 mile of the proposed site.

[1] Data Driven Detroit [2] Interview: Detroit Food Acadamy, 2013 Image: Link Detroit

Street design that encourages walkability, safe biking, and alternative forms of transportation for students is essential for the success of the school in the short and long terms.

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Most students living in the Eastern Market District commute to either Park or Midtown for school. With difficulties Ecorse 0 0.5 1 Lafayette 2 in the reliability of public transportation, and the percentage of Detroiters without reliable cars, a new school would improve Miles ven Detroit. Created August 2012. access to education and after-school enrichment opportunities.

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District History The Eastern Market Historic District was registered on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. The boundaries were expanded beyond the original 6 block heart of the market to include more of the food-related production, warehouse, retail and distribution buildings that comprise the district. This HABS district designation enables federal tax-credit opportunities for the renovation and purchase of contributing buildings.

The history and change in land use of this district follows that of Detroit as a whole.

Eastern Market is the oldest continuously operating market in the US. Unlike similar productive district in San Francisco or New York City, this district has retained much of its historic character, building uses, and original tenants. This is due in part to the economic decline of Detroit and lack of renovations.

Eastern Market was one of three produce markets that served inner city Detroit. It is the only one that remains today. After being converted from a cemetery and prison site to a wood and hay market in the 1870s, the market grew into a regional food hub beginning in the 1890s.

Historic storefronts facing central parking lot that replaced shed 1

Uses included a series of public market sheds, storefront retail, slaughterhouses, cold storage, processing, warehouses, shipping & logistics. This district hosted food-related retail at a variety of scales, including farmer’s market, specialty stores, street carts, wholesale, and via commercial commodities houses.

Over time, the district was shaped by both the flow of goods and people. Waves of immigration from Germany and Italy provided low-wage workers for labor jobs.

This drove the success of major industries of beer and meatpacking. The variety of high and low skilled jobs that paid a living wage provided upward mobility for those with limited education or English skills.

[1] Clotset, Virginia. Eastern Market Historic District. National Register of Historic Places Nomination. 1974.

[2] Goldstein, Deborah and Janese Chapman. EMHD Boundary Increase. NRHP Nomination. 2006.

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Transportation + Urban Renewal Gratiot Avenue was one of the original transportation arterials to carry produce and people into the central city from the farmland to the East. The Grand Trunk Railroad, which cut its line under Gratiot Ave in the late 1920s, provided north-south 2 freight access to the district. Larger uses

that required direct loading to the railroad relocated or reoriented to the west of the market sheds. The Grand Truck line is currently undergoing phased renovation as the “Dequindre Cut� greenway, a bike and pedestrian route to the river.

Open Wood and Hay Market Est. 1870

Covered Food Market Est. 1892

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[1] Clotset, Virginia. Eastern Market Historic District. National Register of Historic Places Nomination. 1974.

[2] Goldstein, Deborah and Janese Chapman. EMHD Boundary Increase. NRHP Nomination. 2006.

[3] Sanborne Maps. Historic Collection, Detroit Public Library

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wilkins street

In the 1960s, the Fisher Freeway cut through the center of the district and replaced Shed 1 with a parking lot and underpass. To the west, I-75 carved away the dense row house building alfred street fabric. Hastings Street, a thriving AfricanAmerican corridor, was replaced with a wide sunken highway. The result of these changes is a divided Eastern Market district, disconnected from residential and commercial zones to the west and south.

Pedestrian access along Gratiot Ave. is division street disconnected from the rest of Detroit’s

downtown retail corridor.

The shift toward car infrastructure coincided with massive urban renewal efforts in neighboring residential districts. The vacant Frederick Douglass towers, early examples of modern public housing, are still located just to the west of I-75. Another example is the Black Bottom neighborhood, formerly located to the southeast of Eastern Market.

Known as “The Harlem of Detroit,” Black Bottom was razed and replaced with the modern Lafayette Park development, designed in part by Mies Van Der Rhoe.

Fisher Freeway Replaces Shed #1 1960s street adelaide

Live-Work-Sell Historic building types that are unique to the district include commission houses and factory stores2. Each of these types combined disparate uses and were born out of industry necessity, district density, and the symbiotic clustering of food-related production.

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Residential and mixed use was a traditional component to the market district until zoning laws came into effect in the 1920s.

Many shop and factory owners lived above their stores in narrow 2-3 story buildings.

Today, public-oriented retail continues to be clustered near shed 2 adjacent to the central parking lot. Side streets and eastwest alleys to the east of the sheds have a higher density of small scale creative production uses and retail mixed with traditional industrial functions.

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District Character The buildings of the district are primarily simple industrial brick and concrete, with some Victorian, Art Deco, and Romanesque detailing. They are united by a gritty, utilitarian aesthetic. The buildings show evidence of change over time in response to industrial need, new technology, and the introduction of railroad and semitrucks. For example, when cold storage technologies changed the operation of meatpacking, many factories underwent major reconfigurations. Floors were added or removed, windows were blocked in, and

smaller operations combined to form larger factories. As a result, the Eastern Market district is distinguished by a patchwork aesthetic that shows layers of industrial history over time. Chimneys, water towers, large access doors, and wide, truck-friendly streets contribute to the industrial character.

Due to their large window openings, sturdy historic brick construction, and high ceilings, many former productive building types are ripe for conversion to loft residential in the district.1

[1] Goldstein, Deborah and Janese Chapman. EMHD Boundary Increase. NRHP Nomination. 2006.

Images: Economic Development Strategy Report, 2009

Economic Development Strategy

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Market Sheds

There are two remaining market sheds that are actively used for weekend farmer’s markets for the whole region of SW Michigan. One is open, and made of wood, and the other is enclosed and is steel. Both are passively conditioned, making winter use in the cold climate difficult.

View of weekend market, sheds 2 and 3, Summer 2013

Other structures include EMC office portable, the Michigan Ag building, and Shed 4: a new all-year shed building that is almost complete and will house office and educational programming on the 2nd floor.

Shed 8 is an outdoor “grower’s terminal” for wholesale day use and the flower market.

Eastern Market Corporation

the district as the heart of a healthy food hub for the City of Detroit and the region.

EMC is engaged in marketing, outreach, and educational efforts to increase the demand for healthy food.

This nonprofit organization operates the market, and acts as a voice for the district’s diverse group of users. Their mission is to increase the demand and supply for local, affordable, healthy food. Through outreach, programming, and organizing a diverse set of partnerships, they act as advocates for

Sample projects include: • a mobile produce vendor truck, • bring fresh food to area schools • student programs at the market • public cooking demonstrations • “good eating on Gratiot” ad campaign

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Zoning

In order to encourage a 24-hour district that feels safe and urban, there needs to be more mixing between residential and production. Proposals for improvement include the addition of a land use plan and zoning overlay that would enable a mix of uses, and encourage the addition of live/work typologies.

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Another impediment to the growth of the district is the disorganization of the City of Detroit in its post-bankruptcy state. Zoning codes are confusing and sometimes in conflict with each other.

MACK

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Currently, the Eastern Market District is zoned for business around the sheds, with industrial uses to the east.

Residential is only allowed to the far northeast (which is primarily vacant lots, formerly single family homes), and in a few locations along the south side of Gratiot Ave. There is an urban renewal district identified to the northwest, but this is targeted mainly to and older understanding of industrial use, and not focused on creating a lively and diverse district.

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[1] Chan Krieger Sieniewicz. Eastern Market District: Economic Development Strategy Report. September 2008.

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Vacant Lots & C.3 Buildings

Existing Conditions

Existing Vacant Sites and Buildings

The residential area to the east of the market, formerly single family residences for many of the German workers in the market district, is now almost completely empty.

Text: Brief discussion of major divisions of land use and vacancies Graphics: Land use map Text: Brief discussion of major parcels owned by city or city agencies- particularly those vacant now.

Conditions and locations.

Graphics: Land ownership map

Many factories and industrial buildings near the former Grand Trunk Railroad are now vacant with the shift away from rail freight. New mixeduse development of these structures will benefit from adjacency to the Dequindre Cut .

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Economic Development Report 2009

Eastern Market District Economic Development Strategy

Land nditions Ownership and Buildings

Existing Land Ownership

The core of the market district r divisions of land use is owned by the City of Detroit, though the structures r parcels owned by are managed and operated rly those vacant now. by the Eastern Market ap Corporation.

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At 1440 Gratiot Ave, the EMC recently purchased the vacant property, a former furniture factory and showroom. They rent it on land contract to Thonosphere, a new arts and culture space that operates a cafe, shares an industrial kitchen with market entrepreneurs through Detroit Kitchen Connect. This interweaving of food and art, along with partnership between private, public, and community groups is a good example of the ethos of development in the district.

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Design Proposals The EDC and other stakeholders have identified sites, programs, and tenants that support the vision of a creative regional food hub in the Eastern Market district.

Designs for developer-funded live/work and mixed use housing developments are on the boards. Other shared amenity concepts include a co-packing incubator, district Market Garden & Greenhouse [proposed] energy system, recycling and compost Scott St. and Orleans St. 2.5 acre Greening of Detroit Market Garden center, and farm co-op.

The Greening of Detroit - Client

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• Greenhouse to grow starter plants for communit • Hoop H sheds h d to t extend t d the th growing i season

• A variety of intense gardens highlighting differen • Different garden types • On site community composting center

• Storage for tools and supplies for community ga • Classroom space 1st floor: public market hall 2nd floor: education center, food nonprofit offices, incubator kitchen, & classrooms Eastern Market Institute: Shed 4 [Su. 2014] Alfred St. and Russell St. Eastern Market Corporation - Client

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RIOPELLE STREET

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ST.AUBIN STREET

Proposed Eastern Market Targeted Redevelopment Area Boundary

Dequindre Cut Urban Ag Center [proposed] Indoor Fresh Food Accelerator [proposed] Proposed TRA Streetscape Improvements Proposed TRA Boundary

Orleans St. and Erskine St. bioLINIA + Tadd Heidgerken Architects

Wilkins St. and Dequindre Cut Detroit Community Design Collaborative

Proposed TRA Development Projects Link Detroit Project Area

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Bridge Replacement Bridge Removal Dequindre Cut

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Mixed Use Housing [multiple proposed]

Live-work typologies and traditional 3 over 1 lofts Multiple locations & designers for speculative development All images by designers or clients noted

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Urban Agriculture The practice of raising food in cities is a current urban trend for connecting people to nature, providing education, and encouraging neighborhood unity.

Historically in the US, and to this day in developing nations, cultivation of food has been a part of the city out of necessity.

“Urban farmers supply food to 12% of the 2 world’s population.” During the industrial revolution in America, farm uses were mostly forced out of cities.

Recent trends of demographic movement towards cities away from rings of suburbs offer another interesting opportunity for urban farming to reshape the structure of cities. Technological advances such as greenhouses, rooftop farming, vertical growing, hydroponics/ aquaponics, and closed loop systems are increasing efficiency and providing opportunities to reclaim formerly wasted urban surfaces and better integrate food production into the city’s streets, buildings, & landscapes.

Due to popular demand, recent changes in zoning and public policy encourage community gardens and allow the raising of certain livestock in cities across the US. [1] Steele [2] Ladner

In NYC, it is now possible to raise bees and farm commercially on rooftops. Some cities are replacing their public parks, street trees, and green spaces with edible landscapes.

In Detroit, there is a thriving movement of urban farms and community gardens on vacant land supported by organizations such as the Greening of Detroit. These farms are great as teaching tools, landscapes, and community gathering points. But the current system of urban agriculture is not a solution to the economic problems facing Detroit today. Farming offers great opportunities for job training, nutrition education, and helps combat the persistence of food deserts.

Urban agriculture should be considered as one piece of a much larger food system puzzle in Detroit, one that imparts business skills, and awareness of food, and connection to the earth.

“Food shapes cities, and through them, it molds us – along with the countryside that feeds us” Urban agriculture, or the

-- Carolyn Steele, Hungry City 1

Eagle Street Rooftop Farm, Greenpoint, Brookly, 2012

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Value Added Products There is a gap in infrastructure to support what happens beyond urban agriculture, in Detroit and beyond. Most people don’t want to be subsistence farmers, but would rather support themselves using the resources they have available. In Detroit’s case, it is vacant land, labor, and technical expertise.

This project focuses on the design of spaces and that support the process of adding value to agricultural products.

The USDA defines value-added products as: • A change in the physical state or form of the product (such as milling wheat into flour or making strawberries into jam).

[1] U.S. Department of Agriculture, Rural Business Development.

Image source: Eastern Market Instagram feed

• The production of a product in a manner

that enhances its value, as demonstrated through a business plan (such as organically produced products).

• The physical segregation of an agricultural commodity or product in a manner that results in the enhancement of the value of that commodity or product (such as an identity preserved marketing system).1 This approach contributes to a part of a much larger, interwoven food production and economic system that is growing in the Eastern Market district and throughout Detroit.

moment of project intervention

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Entrepreneurship + the Made in Detroit Brand Entrepreneurship is defined as the process of starting a business, and is often associated with “bootstrapping” or making do with little funds and lots of hard work.

People who identify as entrepreneurs are often seen as risk-takers, hard workers, and able to adapt to changing conditions.

Though some argue that entrepreneurship is an innate trait, it can be taught. The most successful models use a projectbased approach, where students learn by carrying out a real project. Confidence from experience, both of failure and success, is essential. The environment that is needed to foster entrepreneurship is a free flowing exchange of ideas, talent, stakeholders, and capital. This can be thought of as an ecosystem of creativity to foster growth. Flexible workspaces, integrated work and play, and loose hierarchy of spaces are seen in entrepreneurship projects.

The creation of education programs and spaces that foster entrepreneurship are important to Detroit today because startup ventures generate the majority of economic growth. New businesses

produce the most jobs and innovation.

Immigration is highly correlated with entrepreneurship, which can lead to a more inclusive and equitable city.

There are a number of existing efforts to encourage entrepreneurship in Detroit.

Hatch Detroit is a competition for new business ideas. D:Hive is a nonprofit that provides business training and storefront spaces for incubation.

There is a recent surge of interest from businesses to capitalize on the brand of “Made in Detroit” as a symbol for resilience, masculinity, and authenticity. Tim Calkins, a marketing professor at the Kellogg school of management says “Detroit is seen as an underdog and its financial misfortune has become an opening for companies. If you associate yourself with Detroit, you’re associating yourself with a struggle, with managing through difficult times.” Your brand “becomes a brand you want to root for, and a brand you hope will be successful.2” Shinola is a new high-end watchmaking and bicycle company that exemplifies

[1] Conrad.

[2] BBC Lewis, Aidan. “Detroit: The Branding of a Bankrupt City”. BBC News. BBC, 20 Jan. 2014. Article.

[3] New York Times ad.

this concept. McClure’s Detroit-Brooklyn Pickle Company is a food example that is enjoying similar success nationwide. These precedents prove there is potential for new brands to succeed. By providing training in youth entrepreneurship, students will

have more choices of the type of education that works for them. It will allow them to make their own way, be self-sufficient, and contribute to the growth of their city.

Shinola - New York Times Ad

45

Project Language A project language is a specific project’s adaptation of a pattern language, by Christopher Alexander. This language was developed in response to the research on the needs of the Eastern Market district, and guided the final architecture and urban design project.

1 . Connect iv it y

4. Visible Making

2. Creative Pedestrian Alleyways

3. Public Center, Productive Periphery

5. Creative Food Hub

8. Network of Public Mixing Spaces

6. Buildings and Streets as a Teaching Tool

9. Layers of History

7. 24-Hour District

10. Authentic Market Identity

47

Urban Design + Landscape

49

Detroit, Michigan Midtown University & Hospital

New Center

Downtown

New windows + curtain wall facade 24x24” concrete columns with one-way cast in place concrete floors Shared atrium with steel bridges

Context Map Key: classroom

*

classroom

youth center classroom catalyst project

industrial

freeway

residential mixed

faculty arterial corridors

Eastern Market

admin nurse

glass roof over alley

resource room

presentation stair student product design studio

East Side

*

detroit food academy marketing studio

school farm garden

qu

De ut

C re

ind

b

cafeteria + break room

testing prep + cafeteria kitchen

Lafayette Park

sensory testing

foodlab marketing studio:

science lab suite: product testing

glass roof over alley

one-way mirror focus group equipment

N

russell st. elevation

section model

section a

51 0’

Existing Conditions The immense I-75 and Fischer Freeway interchange cuts the market district from New Center, Downtown, and nearby sports stadiums. To the south of Gratiot Ave, a major arterial, the street grid purposely disconnects from the old city fabric to insulate the Lafayette Park residential district from industrial uses and traffic.

The residential area to the east of the market, formerly single family residences for German workers in the market district, is now mostly returned to prairie. A high school campus occupies some of this area.

Many factories and industrial buildings near the former Grand Trunk Railroad are now vacant with the shift away from rail freight.

New mixed-use development of these structures will benefit from adjacency to the Dequindre Cut, a partially redeveloped greenway bike path that leads to the river district.

Key Youth center building site Existing market buildings Potential market related redevelopment: market garden, agricultural center, mixed use factory renovation

to suburbs

to New Town, Center Medical Campus, & Wayne State University

to residential zone to vacant residential zone

Wilkins St.

to eastside neighborhoods & older suburbs

urban design area

to downtown N

0’ 100’

500’

to riverfront park

53

Urban Design

Lafayette Park Residential Art zone

Stormwater Boulevard + Retention Park

Dequindre Cut New Trail

Small Scale live/work/sell mix

Youth Ctr. District Gateway

Ford Football Field Industrial Sanctuary

Market Axis

The connection of the Dequindre Cut greenway to the river, the skyline of downtown Detroit, and the sports stadiums give context to the Eastern Market District in this diagrammatic perspective.

55

Urban Design Concepts The Eastern Market district is changing.

It’s gritty character, creative clusters of activity, and adaptable historic building fabric is attracting new types of people.

Urban design interventions can help connect these groups. Sustainable design solutions connect new and existing users through the creation of vibrant outdoor places for mixing. The plan improves access to transportation and protects industry. Bike lanes, truck lanes, and pedestrian streets work together through careful consideration of marked routes and signage. Trees and green interventions are incorporated with sensitivity to industrial uses.

The Youth Center building project serves as an infill and catalyst to mark the crossroads of two main streets: Gratiot Avenue and Russell Street.

Following the tradition of many historic churches along Gratiot Ave, the southfacing commercial greenhouse tower with colorful oversized graphics acts as a spire marking the gateway to the Eastern Market District as a creative food hub.

Wilkins St. Dequindre Cut

Reinforce N-S Market Axis + Russell St. Across Fischer Freeway

Industrial Sanctuary ti

ve.

A t o

Gra

Stormwater Boulevard + Retail Corridor

Mixed Live/ Make/Sell Creative Zone

Stormwater Retention Park + Dequindre Cut Access Reconnect Street Grid to Lafayette Park

57

Urban Framework Plan

Use Plan Key:

youth center for creative food entrepreneurship

existing market buildings

new ground floor retail / market bldg

new residential

new industrial

new live/work/sell mix

shed 8

Retail corridors

proposed mixed use factory renovation

shed 5

parking structure

shed 4

shed 3

Industrial sanctuary shed 2

youth center

g.c.m.

new mid-rise mixed use buildings new streets and urban buildings recconnect to grid

Mixed live/ work art zone 59

Car + Truck Routes Users noted that freight access, weekend market parking access, and connection to the Dequindre Cut were important. These proposed routes preserve functionality of the industrial sanctuary’s essential delivery system, while allowing for safe passage for bikers and market shoppers.

Clear signage will designate the routes at conflict points, at particular intersections as marked with a circle.

Route Plan Key:

designated truck routes

designated market parking route

marked bike lane or protected cycle track

below-grade pedestrian greenway

61

Insert Landscape

In an active industrial district, innovative urban design and architectural strategies solutions are needed to mitigate balance the needs of trucks, retail visibility, e e Insert and pedestrian street experience. stormwater, provide and improve Inand provide habitat, the quality seimprove rtLandscape andhabitat, s provide habitat, improve the L quality c a p e industrial district.and Innovative solutions for how to mitigate stormwater, provide habitat, and improve the quality Innquality industrial ovative solution thedistrict. of withintelandscape.

These s forlife how of life and pedestrian street experience ansto active industrial district. to mitiga rmwate

e

of life and pedestrian

street experience in an

r, provide habitat, and improve the quality active industrial distric t.

1. Highway Buffer Walls:

planted green walls and trellises along concrete walls buffer noise, absorb carbon, provide habitat, and make driving nicer. commercial

sunken highway commer greenhouse cial sunken highway buffers greenhouse spire buffers spire

2. Green Corridors:

sunken highway buffers sunken highway buffers

new planters and street trees with connecting canopies signify certain streets as retail corridors and pedestrian + bike school garden green pass-throughs. green school garden bridge corridors corridors bridge

Insert

3. Stormwater Boulevard + Retention Park: Landscape courtyard

green corridors green corridors

courtyard bioswale planters channel water along courtyard insertion into stormwater Innovative solutions forinsertion how to mitigate stormwater, provide habitat, and improve the quality into existing Gratiot, integrating a protected bike track insertion into sto rmw boulevard + ater in an active industrial of life and pedestrian street experience district. existing warehouse courtyard and BRT or light rail station options. existing bou lev retention ard park + warehouse insertion into warehouse retention park existing warehouse

4. Convertible Parking Lot:

add permeable pavers, a corridor of big

provide habitat, and improve the qualityand reconfigure parking to allow for trees, big tree alle + e industrial district. temporary use, tailgating, or events big tre convertable e alle market commercial + con for or all of the lot. ver1/2 tablot parking le greenhouse sunken highway par king lot spire buffers

5. School Garden Bridge: Insert Landscape market shoppers in the new alley

experience food production from below the viaquality Innovative solutions for how to mitigate stormwater, provide habitat, and improve this elevated rundistrict. by students. of life and pedestrian street experience in anmini activefarm industrial school sunken garden highway bridge buffers green corridors

6. Commercial Greenhouse Spire:

like the many cathedrals on Gratiot, an 80’ enclosed hydroponic greenhouse tower courtyard stormwater becomes a food district landmark. commercial insertion boulevard + greenhouse green retention spire corridors park

into existing sunken highway warehouse buffers

7. Warehouse Inserted Courtyard a new outdoor artist’s space unites the joint

courtyard between old and new building elements and insertion into+ big tree alle brings nature into the industrial. existing school garden convertable warehouse bridge parking lot green corridors

2.

4.

1.

Stormwater Retention Park

7.

5.

Street Design Extents

6.

3.

2.

Sculpture Garden

63

Street Design

65

Street Design This design improves district walkability by adding multi-modal transportation infrastructure, sensitive addition of landscape, and retail and community programming. The connection between the market sheds and the new alley is highlighted with brick cobblestone pavers.

These continue into the buildings where the public enters: at the renovated edge of the Gratiot Central Market, and at the youth center’s atrium “mixing space.” This connection is further strengthened by an expansion of the existing pedestrian bridge with space for both permanent and temporary retail uses.

Gratiot Ave. goes on a “road diet,” reducing from 7 lanes to 6. New street tree bumpouts, zebra striping and curb extensions for pedestrian crossings, and bioswales further slow down traffic. This new configuration adds shade and interest to the pedestrian Plan Key:

bike lane/ protected cycle track

pop-up shipping container retail

new permeable cobblestone pavers

existing buildings

experience, with built in stops for easy Bus Rapid Transit access that can be reconfigured for any light rail extensions in the future. A new protected 2 way cycle track on the south side of the road safely connects the Dequindre Cut green way to downtown and east side neighborhoods, avoiding the dangerous intersection with drivers exiting the freeway.

On Russell St. new dense, mixed-use strip of buildings anchors the NW corner, replacing the blank brick wall surrounding the Brewery Park office complex.

Pop-up Pedestrian Uses

Convertable Parking Lot

bike repair structure covered bike parking

Shipping Containers

food cart docking station

New Pedestrian Retail Bridge

new pedestrian street

Freeway Below

Gratiot Public Space covered market alley new cafe with garage door to public space Gratiot Central Market

new gratiot central market entrance outdoor restaurant seating movie screen/ digital art on existing brick wall bike parking

New Mixed Use Bldgs

Stormwater Boulevard mid-block pedestrian crossing

Trinosophes Art Space + Cafe

BRT/ light rail stations bioswale cycle track Sculpture Garden67

Street Details The addition of pedestrian infrastructure, transit, and other improvements in the public realm are the most effective way to catalyze the growth of the Eastern

Market district in the near term. Public or nonprofit investment in these street upgrade concepts would encourage private development in the buildings around them.

cafe + ace

new cycle track

protected cycle track

new bioswale

new semi-covered gathering space + movie screen

bioswale system

brt or light rail stations

movie screen + digital art

new slow pedestrian street

brick pavers at market axis

slow curbless pedestrian street

container retail on bridge

new pedestrian bridge with shi

green roof over ped. bridge

69

Pedestrian Bridge As a result of the sunken highway system that cuts through Detroit and many other Michigan cities, pedestrian bridges are needed to connect safe walking paths between neighborhoods. These bridges are uncomfortable places because of their long narrow shape and tall chain link fences. They feel unsafe when poorly lit and far from eyes on the street. At Eastern Market, the existing pedestrian bridge that connects the market to the Gratiot Central Market is special. People are already occupying it to sell incense, food, clothes, art, and other informal retail.

This new pedestrian bridge connects the market sheds across the freeway, creates a sense of arrival for cars coming to the district via freeway, and provides more places for the informal market to take root with popup shipping container retail and permanent amenities. It could be the first in a series of multi-purpose bridges that connect neighborhoods around the city. Like the High Line park, Detroit’s new pedestrian bridges could create a new type of public space to playfully connect cars and people, improve walkability, and add community spaces with customizable functions to neighborhoods.

[1]

[1] Summer use as an informal market space, looking north: existing [2] Reimagining the bridge as a joyful gateway to the district from the highway: early concept collage painting

[2]

Rus

sell

St.

y.

e

ch

Fis

w rF

Expanded pedestrian bridge with canopy for all-seasons use: early conceptual rendering

71

Connection to Market Sheds

Shed 2 Perspective Point

The physical and visual connection between the market sheds and the new market alley is strengthened by new public functions in the flexible parking lot and pedestrian bridge. During tailgating, special event days, and public gatherings this area can convert to a park from a parking lot. A new bike repair and storage station, food cart docking places, micro-retail, bus shelter along Russell street activate the street edge to the parking lot while leaving the lot flexible to cars or special event uses. Brick cobblestone paving along the pedestrian axis helps with wayfinding and defines the pedestrian importance over cars and trucks. The glass covering on the alley takes structural inspiration from the underside of the market sheds.

Youth Center

Existing market shed roof structure Image: Kraemer Design Group

Gratiot Central Market

Perspective view highlighting the existing historic market buildings and their connection to the new youth center and improvements to Russell Street.

73

Stormwater Boulevard The Detroit Future City plan called for an increase in blue and green infrastructure.

This bold street design move replaces a lane of traffic with a massive bioswale system that connects underground for the length of Gratiot Ave, providing a pedestrian friendly sense of place to the major arterial.

This system carries rainwater to a series of retention ponds and parks, including a new park that forms a new connection between the market and the sunken Dequindre Cut trail. The swale system provides a safety buffer for a cycle track. The track serves as a bike superhighway between the east side neighborhoods and downtown. Bus rapid transit/ future light rail stations are incorporated into the 10’ landscaped median.

Stormwater Retention Park

8-Story Art Deco Building

fe + e

Trinosophes Art Space + Cafe

15’ sidewalk

10’ protected cycle track

new bioswale

new cycle track

6 lanes of traffic

new bioswale

Street section detail along south side of Gratiot Avenue.

75

Covered Market Alley 40,000 people visit the historic Eastern Market District per weekend from the city of Detroit, the more affluent suburbs, Ohio, and Canada. These people are diverse, and many have an existing deep cultural connection to the building and the district.

Others are looking for fresh goods, or a safe way to experience Detroit as a tourist.

The covered market alley is a new place that brings shoppers across from the Sheds to Gratiot Avenue, and through the Gratiot Central Market. The youth center benefits from proximity to this stream of customers in their retail stalls which are a part of the alternative curriculum. The green farm bridge physically connects the school and Gratiot Central Market’s new entrance along the alley. It frames the courtyard and provides a new elevated type of shopper interaction with the food they buy in the district.

Covered Market Alley

The rhythm of the new structural steel roof relates to that of the one-way concrete joist system that is exposed in the atrium of my building and ties the two experiences together. Brick cobble pavers (represented with red texture), strengthen the wayfinding of the sequence from the grand market structure, across the lot, bridge, alley, and Gratiot Street. This moment and turn the corner into the atrium mixing space.

Images: www.detroiteasternmarket.com

Perspective sketch shows the experience of being at the middle of the cross in the new covered alley on a market day. The stormwater boulevard and Gratiot Street outdoor cafe space and movie theater are seen in the distance.

77

Covered Market Alley

79

Architecture

81

Youth Center for Creative Food Entrepreneurship ...a creative food hub for the future leaders of the Eastern Market district

Russell Street youth center, housing, and retail entrances.

Existing brick warehouses contrast with new white terra cotta and brick infill.

83

Architecture Concepts The building design has 3 essential moves: 1. Carve a new mid-block market alley to align with the market axis: the new pedestrian bridge, parking lot upgrades, and historic market sheds.

2. Infill a new youth center building between the alley and the street that acts as an iconic gateway to the district and completes Russell as a vibrant main street.

Adaptively reuse existing brick warehouse.

3. Renovate the existing Gratiot Central Market, a popular yet poorly designed one story concrete building. Open up its west facade to the alley in summer months with oversized garage doors, a cafe, and new entrance at Gratiot Ave. Public spaces off of this main axis include the youth center’s atrium mixing space, and the Gratiot Ave. covered alley gathering space featuring outdoor seating and projection screen visible from cars en route to the district from the highway.

Gr ati ot Av e.

Renovate Gratiot Central Market

New Market Alley

Russell St.

Youth Center

Existing Gratiot Central Markte building with historic terra cotta facade along Gratiot Ave. Existing warehouse building.

Above: Early conceptual sketch.

85

Site This site was selected for the Youth Center because of its: • proximity to the Eastern Market’s •

•

• • • • • •

•

•

customer base location between the burgeoning art zone to the south and food-related zone to the north. the historic importance of Gratiot Avenue as a connector to the east side and downtown prominence of corner with Russell St. proximity to the pedestrian bridge visibility to freeway traffic density, variety, and quality of existing buildings on the block adjacency to multiple bus lines, near Dequindre Cut bikeway next door to Gratiot Central Market building with a potential for access into the public interior hallways access to facades on west and south, alley access, existing building frontage to the north towards the market. adaptive reuse potential of the former Germack Pistachio warehouse bldg. at corner of Russell St. & Fischer Freeway

x xx

xx

x x

mack avenue

x

x

xx

x

dubois street

orleans street

riopelle street

russell street

wilkins street

st. aubin street

x

erskine street

x

alfred streetx

x

division street

x

x x

x

adelaide street

x

winder street x

I-75

* •

Link Detroit Project Area Bridge Replacement

x

Bridge Removal Dequindre Cut

x

x

ot

g

ti ra

ue

a

n ve

x

N

Bus transit, bike greenway, and site location map.

87

Site

multi-use lot

new pedestrian bridge reuse existing brick warehouse new construction & penthouse

new pedestrian market alley

stormwater boulevard street improvements

Existing site: Gratiot Ave. & Russell St. Google Earth Image Diagram

89

Building Program The building program was developed around the way that entrepreneurship education is structured, as a series of reallife projects. As a microcosm of the Eastern Market District creative hub of a healthy regional food system, the building takes programmatic cues from the current and planned uses found in of the rest of the district.

For FoodLab Food Entrepreneurship • Commercial kitchen • Product testing science lab • Client conference room • Marketing studio. Center for Creative Studies artists in residence • Micro-rental retail spaces • Restaurant • Loading docks and storage Shared Community Amenities • Shared atrium mixing space • Retail • Art + product gallery • Large rentable meeting space • Library, including product tasting

For Detroit Food Academy School • Multi-purpose lecture space • Traditional classrooms • Open product design studio • Computer lab • Digital fabrication lab • Learning garden bridge • Admin support spaces + offices Live Work Residential • Views over market + city • Shared central gallery + workspace • Public entry lobby • Outdoor space • Convertable loft apartments

Live/ Work Housing Penthouse

Renovated edge of Gratiot Central Market Commercial Greenhouse Spire

Exst.

Retail

Covered Market Alley + Community Event Space Gra

Live-Work Public Entrance

.

FoodLab Product Innovation Center + CCS Marketing Studio

Ave

Shared Atrium Mixing Space

tiot

Detroit Food Academy School Rus

sel

l St .

Existing Retail To Remain

Program diagram

91

Users + Design Solutions Student Walkable streets encourage connection with Lafayette residential across Gratiot Ave. Connected bikeways attract students to bike from downtown, medical and education areas, and East side.

Market Shopper Most shoppers arrive driving from medium to long distances from the city or suburbs

Market Worker Semi and box trucks for product delivery + shipping

User Needs: -Alternative school model with trade skills -Mentorship and young role models -Safe pedestrian passage -Alternative transportation options Design Solutions: +Detroit Food Academy School +Mentoring, mixing space, and retail stalls +Pedestrian bridge as prototype +Cycle track connection to Dequindre Cut +BRT stations, Detroit Bus Company pickup User Needs: -Parking -Awareness from the highway -Diversity of goods, experiences Design Solutions: +Alley-bridge sequence +On-street parking +Diversity of retail scales, formal + informal User Needs: -Semi-truck access -Affordability -Loss of history Design Solutions: +Industrial sanctuary west of Russell St. keeps space affordable +Designated truck lanes with tree placement sensitive to truck turning radii

Food Entrepreneur This facility will attract entrepreneurs from around the city, so most will drive. Some may be open to bus or bike.

Goods are delivered and those not sold on-site are shipped via freight truck

Hipster Artist Live-work reduces the need for commuting transportation

In the good-weather months, some hipsters like biking for fun and work.

User Needs: -Kitchen space and axillary resources.

-Networking with other businesses -Customer exposure -Public education to improve perception of value of local food and the Detroit brand.

Design Solutions: +Affordable shared kitchen space, marketing and lab testing facilities +Food product display wall in the atrium allow products become the architecture. +Mixing spaces at various scales provide places for accidental interaction between students, entrepreneurs, and customers. +Big garage doors and windows along the alley and atrium make production visible to customers without compromising kitchen HVAC and sanitary requirements.

User Needs: -Diversity of district uses -Gritty, industrial feel in building and district -Access to customers on occasion -Housing options -Flexible workspace Design Solutions: +Cycle track connection to Dequindre Cut, BRT station +Add density and diversity of uses for 24hour district +Live-work housing with shared gallery courtyard and entrance

93

e

Old + New The Eastern Market district’s historic industrial character is what makes it special. The youth center complex fills in the holes on this triangular block with new construction that interweaves with an underoccupied historic pistachio processing warehouse. Original retail tenants remain after renovation as social anchors to the site’s past.

The formerly exterior, southern brick wall of the warehouse is celebrated at the heart of the school, separating the flexible studio spaces from more private classrooms and becomes an occupiable wayfinding device for mentors and visitors to the community auditorium and gallery. movie screen

restaurant

Renovations to the western edge of the landmark Gratiot Central Market peels back the wall to let in light, and access the market from reoriented stalls that face the new alley with garage doors.

The market’s historic Gratiot Ave. facade, featuring colorful oversized ads and terra cotta detailing, is retained and experienced in a new way. It become a gateway to the new pedestrian market alley and outdoor community gathering area. This zone’s location along Gratiot Ave draws life into the alley from the busy arterial that leads to downtown Detroit.

cafe

reoriented market stalls

lightweight panelized curtain wall facade

courtyard at the joint between old + new buildings

renovated brick warehouse building white terra cotta rainscreen at school curved glass roof over new market alley existing retail to remain R

s us

St. l l e

Gra

tiot

student market stalls renovated edge of gratiot central market w/ stalls reoriented to alley

Ave

.

Exploded axonometric highlighting materiality and existing facades

95

Floor 1

Program Key:

Detroit Food Academy

Retail

FoodLab Food Innovation Center Creative Workspace/ Marketing Studio Live-Work Residential Existing Building to Remain

Shared atrium with steel bridges

existing retail to remain

existing retail to remain

classroom

school retail

existing retail to remain

classroom

classroom r r

covered alley

r faculty

entry gallery

admin nurse

mentor community conference room lounge presentation stair

media library + fabrication lab

retail

resource room

market stalls with garage doors, typ.

retail

student product design studio

retail

detroit food academy retail marketing studio retail

auditorium product display walls

school farm garden

new entrance, mezzanine, and gathering for Gratiot Central Market

shared atrium “mixing space”

b

flexible office or retail

foodlab office

existing gratiot central market

glass roof over re-oriented alley

sec.

cafeteria + break room

retail

cold storage

testing prep + cafeteria kitchen commercial kitchen suite

sensory testing

foodlab retail marketing studio: retail

restaurant kitchen

one-way mirror

restaurant

equipment

russell st. elevation

existing retail to remain

section model

glass roof over alley

cafe

science lab suite: product testing

focus

loading docks group

covered alley

public oudoor seating

restaurant patio movie/ digital art screen

section a

N

0’

20’

97

Floor 2

Program Key:

Detroit Food Academy

Retail

FoodLab Food Innovation Center Creative Workspace/ Marketing Studio Live-Work Residential Existing Building to Remain

Shared atrium with steel bridges

classroom

classroom

classroom

classroom

classroom

classroom

faculty

admin

admin

nurse

faculty

nurse

resource room resource room

presentation stair presentation stair

student product design studio

glass roof over alley

glass roof over alley

student product academy designdetroit fooddetroit food academy marketing studio studio marketing studio

school farm garden school farm garden

b

b

cafeteria + break cafeteria + break room room

testing prep + testing prep + cafeteria kitchen cafeteria kitchen

sensory testing sensory testing one-way one-way mirror mirror focus group

foodlab foodlab marketing studio: marketing studio:

science lab suite: science lab suite: product testing product testing

glass roof over alley

glass roof over alley

focus group

equipment equipment

N N

section model russell st. section model russell st. elevation elevation

section a section a

0’

0’

20’

20’

99

Floor 3

Program Key:

Detroit Food Academy

Retail

FoodLab Food Innovation Center Creative Workspace/ Marketing Studio Live-Work Residential Existing Building to Remain

Shared atrium with steel bridges

classroom work

work

classroom work

work

classroom

faculty

admin courtyard nurse

shared gallery + work space

presentation stair work

work

glass roof over alley

resource room

work

student product design studio

work detroit food academy marketing studio

school farm garden

b

cafeteria + break room

testing prep + cafeteria kitchen

foodlab marketing studio:

science lab suite: product testing

sensory testing

glass roof over alley

one-way mirror focus group equipment

commercial greenhouse spire

N

russell st. elevation

section model

section a

0’

20’

101

Floor 4

Program Key:

Detroit Food Academy

Retail

FoodLab Food Innovation Center Creative Workspace/ Marketing Studio Live-Work Residential Existing Building to Remain

Shared atrium with steel bridges

work

classroom work

live

live

classroom work

classroom

work

live

live faculty

admin courtyard nurse

shared gallery + work space

presentation stair live work

live work

live work

glass roof over alley

resource room

student product design studio

live work detroit food academy marketing studio

school farm garden

b

cafeteria + break room

testing prep + cafeteria kitchen

foodlab marketing studio:

science lab suite: product testing

sensory testing

glass roof over alley

one-way mirror focus group commercial equipment greenhouse commercial spire greenhouse fl. 3-7 spire N

russell st. elevation

section model

section a

0’

20’

103

Shared Atrium: Mixing Space

Community Space Detroit Food Academy School

The atrium connects the market alley with Russell Street, and aligns with the new glass entrance and mezzanine in the renovated Gratiot Central Market.

Atrium Mixing Space

Entry + Mixing Space

FoodLab

This flexible space is a place for all of the youth center’s users to interact with each other, with food production, and with the Made in Detroit brand in passive and active ways. Shoppers from the alley are drawn in by the open, light-filled space and colorful products displayed on the double height shelves of the product library walls.

Windows and art gallery walls showcase elements of the whole food system for users and public visitors. Open studios for Detroit Food Academy and FoodLab connect visually and physically across the space via bridges.

View from 2nd floor bridge, looking east across atrium to the covered market alley and connection to new Gratiot Central Market entrance and stalls.

105

Blurred Experience: Community + School + Work When not in use by the school, community groups can rent the auditorium or community room, which are both located just behind the Russell street facade. The food-related displays here are prominent when viewed through at the main glazed entrance as a welcoming beacon to youth and community members on the street. Large events can spill out into the gallery section of the atrium mixing space.

Security doors can roll down on other spaces to allow for after-hours use.

The stair in the auditorium is also the main entrance for the school. This blurring between where the school begins, the public space, and the Foodlab facilities is a spatial embodiment of the Detroit Food Academy’s philosophy to integrate education with the real world. Students and FoodLabbers may also use the stairauditorium for informal group study or eating lunch.

Shared Auditorium + Community Space

existing retail

live-work public street entrance + gallery

community meeting room

school punctures through existing brick warehouse

multi-purpose auditorium with stair seating gallery display wall cobble pavers continue from alley into mixing space

Sectional model showing bridges, auditorium, and product display shelves.

107

Shared Commercial Kitchen This perspective view shows what it’s like to work in the shared commercial kitchen.

There is a big window connecting across the atrium space with a view of the student’s studio space on the 2nd floor.

The brick wall of the existing building is visible in the far distance through the library and the student studio. This helps people to orient themselves, know where to go, and remember the history of the site. The school’s farm bridge is visible through the windows in the work yard, and visually connects food processing back to growing.

Exposed concrete columns and floors are architectural grade and polished.

This material is utilitarian, durable, and celebrates the new in contrast with the old historic brick. Interior and exterior windows let in natural daylight, reducing the need for artificial light.

Commercial Kitchen

Example of a commercial grade kitchen with an open floor plan and stainless steel fixtures.

Images: commercialkitchenexhaustcleaningnj.com/pairings/

The commercial kitchen is primarily used by FoodLab entrepreneurs, but also by Detroit Food Academy and is rentable to the public. The interesting activity of cooking and processing is visible to everyone passing by.

109

Live-Work Gallery Courtyard The configuration of work units arranged around a central hardscaped courtyard and open space allows for efficiency and light for workspaces, as well as the semi-public access from the street through the entry lobby.

Internal stairs through each work unit lead up to an open living loft space that has access to light and air from both sides, and with balconies that overlook the market and downtown skyline and park to the south.

Flexibility and openness of these units is important for their ability to change over time, as the district shifts from an industrial to a mixed neighborhood.

Floor 4: Housing Perspective Point

The third floor is partially in the old building, and the 4th is new penthouse construction, with a lightweight steel structural system and panelized curtain wall cladding system.

Floor 3: Workshops

Courtyard + Shared Gallery

Existing brick warehouse wall becomes the centerpiece for the shared gallery and flexible workspace at the heart of the 3rd floor live-work housing cluster.

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Structure + Construction

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Structure The structural system for the new portions of the project is site-cast concrete. The floor system is one-way concrete joists. Concrete columns are 24” x 24” and arranged in a 30’ x 30’ grid. In all locations, the concrete is polished and exposed as flooring for easy cleanup, thermal mass, and simple industrial look. Additional fireproofing is not required. The underside is left exposed at the ceiling of the atrium mixing space auditorium. Other locations have a dropped drywall ceiling to conceal plumbing, HVAC, and other practical functions.

This system, which is often used in parking structures, was selected for its flexibility over time. It is oversized to allow for highstrength future uses, such as a productive green roof. The ribbed joists allow for easy skylight additions. The shape of this ceiling also contributes to acoustic dampening.

The structural system, along with glazing and window to wall ratio on the SW facade at Russell Street, is designed for solar thermal heat storage during cold winter months. Operational windows on this elevation allow for natural cross-ventilation in hot and humid summer months.

existing brick warehouse wall is prominently featured

24”x24” exposed concrete columns

exposed one-way joist system at auditorium and mixing space

lightweight stainless steel bridge is hung from concrete slab roof

skylights in roof over atrium

One-way concrete joist system section and plan details, from Architect’s Handbook

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Russell Street Facade

new curtain wall penthouse with white aluminum privacy panels and exposed steel structure

existing brick warehouse

terra cotta rainscreen

commercial greenhouse spire

glazed white brick

exst. brick

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Wall Details

New Terra Cotta Wall Section

White textured terra cotta rainscreen cladding material at new school walls

ENCL STL.

42

4

10” SITECAST CONCRETE SLAB FLOOR

EXPOSED CONCRETE FLOOR 30’-0”

3

24” SITECAST CONCRETE OPEN WEB JOIST FLOORS

WHITE TERRA COTTA RAINSCREEN SYSTEM ON STEEL STUDS 30”X30” SITECAST CONCRETE COLUMNS BEHIND

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Process

Midterm mixing space rendering

Midterm model

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Atrium Mixing Space

Container Retail Pedestrian Bridge

Gratiot Outdoor Gathering Space

Sketch model

Shared Auditorium, School Entrance, Old Brick Wall As Wayfinding Device

Massing model drafts in context 123

Annotated Bibliography Alexander, Christopher. A Pattern Language : Towns, Buildings, Construction. New York:

Oxford UP, 1977. Print.

This book describes the theory of pattern language, and gives examples of design

patterns, text and diagrams explain a design problem and solution.

Binelli, Mark. Detroit City is the Place to Be: The Afterlife of an American Metropolis. New York, NY: Picador, 2012. Book.

Written by a Detroit-native journalist, this is a series of essays on the new energy surrounding Detroit today. Especially useful is his description of working as a knifesharpener in the Eastern Market District as a young person in the 80s, and returning to live there as a writer today.

Blessing, Charles A. The Evolving City. Proc. of 1961 SAE International Congress and

Exposition of Automotive Engineering, Cobo Hall, Detroit, Michigan. N.p.: n.p., n.d.

1-12. Print.

Chan Krieger Sieniewicz. Eastern Market District: Economic Development Strategy Report. Cambridge,MA. September 2008. Report.

This is an in-depth study of the Eastern Market District’s goals for development and public amenities. Includes traffic/ parking studies, architectural and urban design vision, and economic return projections. Focuses mostly on shed bldgs.

Clotset, Virginia. Eastern Market Historic District. National Register of Historic Places

Nomination. Detroit, MI. 1974. Report.

This report describes a brief history of the Eastern Market, the building stock, and

the 7 major buildings that contribute to its historic character.

Conrad, Jacob. Global Entrepreneurship. America Abroad. October 13, 2013. Radio.

Entrepreneurship can be taught, and most successful models use a projectbased approach. Confidence from experience, both of failure and success, is essential. The environment that is needed to foster entrepreneurship is a free flowing exchange of ideas, talent, stakeholders, and capital.

Cross, Charles. “Detroit Community Design Collaborative.” Personal interview. 16 Dec.

2013. Discussed the Recovery Park project near Eastern Market, and food systems.

Czerniak, Julia. Formerly Urban: Projecting Rust Belt Futures. New York, NY: Princeton Architectural Press, 2013. Book.

This book is a series of essays on the essential role of design in shrinking cities such as Detroit, Youngstown, and Cleveland. The history and future of the problem are discussed through the lenses of the landscape design, infrastructure, rethinking density, beauty, and finance.

Detroit Future City: 2012 Detroit Strategic Framework Plan. Detroit, MI: Inland Press,

2012. Book.

Detroit Works was an ambitious community outreach, policy, and planning research project that took place between 2010 and 2012. This book is the final report gathered from 163,000 connections with the people of Detroit on their priorities, opinions, and specific technical strategies for the future of the city. This document guided my search for a district, and much of my early thinking on the community’s priorities for education and job creation. The concepts of stormwater boulevard and green highway buffers came from DFC. Doorley, Scott, and Scott Witthoft. Make Space: How to Set the Stage for Creative

Collaboration. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2012. Print.

A collection of design techniques and architectural elements that improve learning,

especially new types of team-based, creative, free-form learning. easternmarket. Instagram Account. http://instagram.com/easternmarket Ellefson, Jela. “Eastern Market Development Corporation.” Personal interview. 15 Dec. 2013.

Background and resources on current development around Eastern Market.

Gallagher, John. Reimagining Detroit: Opportunities for Redefining an American City.

Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press, 2010. Book.

Goldstein, Deborah and Janese Chapman. Eastern Market Historic District Boundary Increase. National Register of Historic Places Nomination. Detroit, MI. June 2006.

Report.

125

Hanson, David and Edwin Marty. Breaking Through Concrete: Building an Urban Farm

Revival. University of California Press, 2012. Book.

A collection of contemporary urban farming precedent studies in various cities.

Ibarra-Frayre, Carlos “Detroit Future City.” Personal interview. 9, Dec. 2013.

Katz, Bruce. Fresh Air. July 25, 2013. Radio Interview.

Describes Detroit’s relationship to its metro region, and the opportunities and challenges of a hollow city with rich suburbs, along with the new generation that is interested in moving back into cities.

Kavanaugh, Kelli B. “John Hanz: The Man has a Plan, but Does Detroit Have a Farming

Future?” August 24, 2010. Article.

There is a major controversy around John Hanz’s many different proposals to introduce large-scale urban farms in large swaths of vacant land in the residential zones of Detroit.

Kickul, J. & Lyons, T.S. Understanding Social Entrepreneurship: The Relentless

Pursuit of Mission in an Ever-Changing World. Routledge. 2012. Book.

This textbook is an introduction to social entrepreneurship. It gives a clear definition

of entrepreneurship, describes the character of entrepreneurs, and how it is taught.

Kronig, Austin. “Practice Space and Detroit Design.” Personal interview. 10, Dec. 2013.

Ladner, Peter. The Urban Food Revolution: Changing the Way we Feed Cities. New

Society Publishers. 2011. Book.

This book has been a tremendous resource in considering the economic, technological, and statistical dimensions of a realistic urban farming project. Based mostly around Canadian systems, Ladner describes the benefits and drawbacks of models of urban agriculture through a series of precedent studies. Detroit is used on many occasions throughout the book to argue for a self-reliant, integrated food network.

Ledbury, Annie. Notes from FoodLab Food for Thought Community Meeting. 10, Dec.

2013. This meeting of food entrepreneurs discussed the Detroit brand, marketing, the

perception of local and handmade products, and difficulties of business in Detroit.

LeDuff, Charlie. Detroit: An American Autopsy. New York: Penguin, 2013. Book.

This narrative is written by a Pulitzer-prize winning journalist who was raised in Detroit, left, and then returned to the city in 2010. He investigates issues of political corruption, persistent arson, racial tension, and poverty, interweaving the history of Detroit with personal history. The book describes the human experience of living, working and returning home to make a difference in Detroit.

Lewis, Aidan. “Detroit: The Branding of a Bankrupt City”. BBC News. BBC, 20 Jan. 2014.

Article.

This article describes the recent surge of interest from businesses to capitalize on the brand of “Made in Detroit” as a symbol for resilience, masculinity, and gritty authenticity.

Michigan Radio Newsroom. “Catherine Ferguson Academy to Open as Independent

Charter.” August 6, 2013. Online Article. http://michiganradio.org/post/catherine- ferguson-academy-open-independent-charter Poppenk, Mascha & Manfred. Grown in Detroit, 2008. Film.

This documentary describes the Catherine Ferguson Academy’s urban farm curriculum approach to education. It describes their difficulties with obtaining funding from the city of Detroit, and their need to become more economically selfreliant to support their unique approach to education.

Rusciano, Jen. “Detroit Food Academy.” Personal interview. 11, Dec. 2013.

Discussed the existing after-school program, context of schools and students,

teaching challenges, and summer program experiences in Eastern Market.

Steel, Carolyn. Hungry City: How Food Shapes Our Lives. London: Vintage, 2013. Book.

This book follows food’s journey from land to city, through market and supermarket, kitchen, and garbage to show how food impacts the shape of the city. It uses historic and current examples, and the future impact of vertically integrated food systems.

The Third Teacher: 79 Ways You Can Use Design to Transform Teaching & Learning.

New York: Abrams, 2010. Print.

The school environment is the third teacher. The design of spaces can impart

lessons, including ecological principles. This text is a series of articles on design

topics for improving education, including basic needs, social, community, sensory,

sustainability, equal access, and technology. It was developed with students,

educators, and designers.

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...thank you to family and friends, old and new, who supported me through this season of change.

And especially to my Grandma, Barb Ledbury, who always inspired me to work with what I had, live up to my promises, and do the best I could to build a better future for everybody.