Decentralizing Detroit : From Grid to Off-Grid
urbanism·@voronoi·
0.000 HBDDecentralizing Detroit : From Grid to Off-Grid
 ***“...If design is merely an inducement to consume, then we must reject design; if architecture is merely the codifying of bourgeois model of ownership and society, then we must reject architecture; if architecture and town planning is merely the formalization of present unjust social divisions, then we must reject town planning and its cities...until all design activities are aimed towards meeting primary needs. Until then, design must disappear. We can live without architecture...”*** - Adolfo Natalini (Architect of Superstudio) in 1971.  # The Fall of Detroit's Automotive Empire --- A metropolis of industry, music and culture; Detroit once held close to 2 million residents in 1950. Today, the city's population sits closer to 700,000. This sharp decline was a result of Detroit's dependency on a single-source-economy; the automotive industry. The "Motor City" was a mecca for all-things-auto back in the middle 20th century. However, after a series of advances in automotive assembly and machine-based manufacturing, car manufacturers no longer needed multi-story plants in urban areas. Fewer employees were needed to operate simplified machinery, and it became far cheaper to build single-story warehouses outside of major city centers. With this unprecedented shift... Detroit's economy was gutted.  The imagery of Detroit from above is provocative... Here's a look at how the city became de-populated over time...  **Detroit proper is a city of 138.76 square miles (that's massive).** It has the bones of a city planned to hold millions of people. Today, the city's infrastructure is being stretched thin. Electrical lines, water and waste pipes travel through ghost neighborhoods with only a few scattered residents. Pockets of communities stretch across a massive, and largely vacant street grid.  # Opportunity to Break the Grid --- **With collapse comes opportunity.** Abandoned portions of street grids have become grown-over and new funky-shaped neighborhoods are beginning to take root. There's a new kind of improvisation happening in Detroit. Public art, off-grid infrastructure and urban farming have become new signatures. There's a growing decentralized mindset here, in a city that was once the epitome of "central."    # Central vs. Decentral --- What is happening in Detroit represents a broader cultural shift. In the last few decades, greater access to global-resources and technology has fostered an “off-grid” mindset in architecture, cities and in neighborhoods. A rising culture of energy independence and DIY (do it yourself) living has ushered in a new craving for decentralization. Much of this "new" Detroit has whole-heartedly rejected the consumerist utopia it once was. While there is a sense of historical pride, there's also a deep-rooted bitterness focused on the big auto industries and politicians who left the city dry. In wake of a tragic economic collapse, generations of auto-makers have traded socket wrenches in for gardening trowels. Residents are embracing opportunity in something far more organic and holistic. Perhaps Detroit doesn't need to rebuild itself in the way you might expect. Why try to re-make a single-city-center when you can have dozens of neighborhood-centers? **This "New" Detroit could very well become the first true 21st century American "City"...**  <center>Sources : [Detroit by Air](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/12/07/opinion/sunday/exposures-detroit-by-air-alex-maclean.html?_r=0) . [Heidelberg Project](http://motorcitymuckraker.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Heidelberg_9111.jpg) . [Urban Farming](http://assets.bwbx.io/images/iJ8GjucSpOaM/v1/1200x-1.jpg)</center>  ## <center>follow me @voronoi | design collective @hitheryon</center>
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