Detroit Shadow City

detroit shadow city (ongoing)

STUDIO VI “SISTER CITIES” | SPRING 2020 | SCOTTIE McDANIEL

My fi nal studio project, Detroit Shadow City, explores the undesirable aspects of an urban park, the inclusive/exclusivity (patronage) of public spaces, and the role of designers in this tension. The following drawings are preliminary work focusing on process, form, and research. At this point in the semester, the fi ve-acre Roosevelt Park is the extent of our project site. These drawings will be the basis of the next phase, designing 50 acres of Detroit.

I envision this project to become a really good sitebased project (really!) and prove as an opportunity to focus on code-based form-making process and material detail, as well as an opportunity to research iconic landscapes of modern (very roughly 60s) America, as connected to my pseudo-thesis, “Something Scary Something Pretty.”

LEFT: First set of concrete model, texture detail.

ALL: First attempt at creating concrete models. LEFT: Chipboard mold to release concrete content, before (top) and after (bottom) of the one mold that was not demolished. RIGHT: Three separate results from a quick study.

LEFT: First set of concrete model, texture detail. RIGHT: Formal iterations of the site plan, including hardscape topography throughout the site. NEXT: Site plan and experiential perspectives.

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RIGHT: Visualizing inequality in Detroit: distribution of poverty (bottom), income 500% of poverty level (top), and distribution and density of high-paying and low-paying jobs (middle). LEFT: Zoomed in details of the middle and bottom drawing.