PLOT V

Andrew Gainariu And Kayla Moser

We gave our section of the site the name Reclamation Recreation and our main goals for it is to revitalize the unused space in the center, that has slowly been lost by time and discarded scrape over. Another goal is to transform it into a large public recreation area for our community and others. The challenge was to preserve the neighboring businesses and industries, rather than bulldozing them away. Having both entities share the space harmoniously and serve the current and future needs of greenway inhabitants and the community. The way we linked all five individual portions of our site is through a Linear Park, designated green space that stretches out from the top to bottom of our site, to reinforce the idea of connection. With other sections having different defining features, what defines Reclamation Recreation is its ability to be a focal gathering point.

The existing site contains industrial and commercial active businesses. The goal of our design is to celebrate the existing industry but also intervene by providing public spaces. A lot of the land has been used for scrap and our goal was to take some of the land back for public use. and make it an area that is more enjoyable. Where possible, we incorporated outdoor spaces for sports and other physical activity.

The larger areas of the land were used as fields or arenas to be a place where people can gather. We chose to use existing structures and transform them into usable spaces where people can be productive at learning and working. Building a greenway around industrial spaces offered a unique opportunity to bring life back to a previously unoccupied area in Detroit. where people can be productive at learning and working. Building a greenway around industrial spaces offered a unique opportunity to bring life back to a previously unoccupied area in Detroit

The negative space in between areas used for industry or commercial businesses were previously ignored, leaving a large amount of greenspace for different sports programs. The sports fields are laid out from the North side of the site near W. Chicago to the South of the site at Joy Road. Passing pedestrians can view the sports activity or join in or take a break and enjoy viewing the sports. We wanted to promote use of this area by providing a variety of fitness activities to encourage neighbors and other members of the community to participate in team building sports and bring people closer together. The site had a lot of fencing and one main goal was to open the space in between buildings for pedestrians. By providing several openings on each side, the greenway serves as a connector between different residential streets.

The greenway runs parallel to the sports and fitness areas. The paths are used to create a seamless transition to the sports from the greenway. There are also many resting locations where by passers can relax.

Due to the scale of the industry nearby, visual barriers were used as a separation between the work and leisure areas. Our nearby businesses also benefit from this design by having a park to enjoy during down time.

The greenery in between heavy industry and the greenway acts as a buffer to provide an experience that is allows users to feel like they are deeply immersed in nature vs. a post industrial area. We wanted to balance the land use to make it suitable for different uses, instead of how it was previously used. Giving more land to public space allows for nature and aesthetic design to take over. Cleaning up the land will make it more viable for new development opportunities moving forward. walking path process sketch

The greenway can also serve ecological purposes by re-directing rainwater from nearby structures to a retention pond, lessening the impact of local flooding.

This section of the greenway can be utilized by people of all ages and fitness backgrounds. At the Central Ave. Entrance is a vacant warehouse turned indoor and outdoor gym. At each outdoor activity space is a sheltered pavilion to provide protection from undesirable weather conditions.

The section below illustrates one of the bigger fields, the football field. There is a difference in elevation from the sports arenas and greenway, conveying different programs. This also gives non sports users to spectate without interfering with the game, showing separation between activity outside of the fields.

Early in the design process, we decided to have a series of parks alongside the greenway. this helps to connect circulation to gathering and the different activities in the parks.

The different modes of transportation merge at the greenway, creating opportunities for all too recreate and enjoy the city in communal way.