A landscape architect´s analysis of the area surrounding the Train Station which opens a very
new perspective to the project.
—————————————————————————————————————————————-
Email – from Klaus Schroll (Berlin, Germany)
- Detroit (the city) is a dwindling industrial city
- Large vacant lots lay to waste and reruralise.
Initial thoughts:
- Berlin 1980s: shrinking, reruralising, abandoned, (politically) tense.
- Wolfsburg (Volkswagen Autoproduction), regressive, auto oriented city development.
What I did immediately.
- Studied the aerial photograph
- Printed out the aerial photograph
- Drew some abstractions (picture 1)
Result 1
- I didn´t want to consider the fundamental typologies of the city´s traffic systems.
- Using the powers of my imagination I could see the shape of a fossil bird head in the urban imprints and highways.
Archaeopterix
Result 2
- Personally I would be more inclined to reconsider and redirect the decayed places than to occupy yourself with Industrial development in general.
- This train station looks like an Art Colosseum to me, with a gigantic backdrop.
- A park in front of/as part of this backdrop, what a wonderful thought.
Contents of such a park could be:
*Detroit historical tours
*Excursions to the MCS (Technical Natural science)
*Relationship between Humans and Nature as theme.
Result 3
With regard to the consolidation of a Park in front of the MCS there are no further pictures, but some scrappy thoughts.
-wild growth in raised and hollowed areas, plants triumph over the terrain.
-feral animals in the city: carnivores.
-Oozing, creeping, climbing: the layer underneath.
-Adventurecamp: freeclimbing in the MCS (with overnight accomodation)
-Illumination
-Radioplays: with the audio guide on tour.
-Timescope: A view to the future and into the past.
Please encourage the student with the Park idea. She should continue to develop it. The degeneration from city to uncontrolled natural living space is so exciting. The project ‘temporäre Garten’ (Temporary Garden) occurs to me, where intervention with the city space is also at play. Here is the link: http://www.temporaeregaerten.de
The subsequent works are part of a ongoing project related seminar at the University of Michigan School of Art and Design.
It could be as friendly and fertile as we want to make it, Detroiters. Why let the vacancy and dormancy of the Central Station prevent Roosevelt Park from being a delightful city park? Think of the Central Station as a glorious ruin, akin to the Coliseum in Rome, or the Parthenon in Greece. Roosevelt Park offers a large grassy area perfect for a game of badminton or frisbee, for having a picnic with your family, or for relaxing with a good book. Visit the link below for more on Roosevelt Park, ideas for its re-enlivenment, and some creative ways to spend a day there. 
More about re-enlivening Roosevelt Park!
what remains is an echo/ an abstraction/ remaining a perpetual possibility…
“text in/on/to” explores what is and is not, positives and negatives, rhythms and texture:
Desire lines are abstract lines that represent the distance between the origin and destination. These lines are indicators of a heavily traveled path and are typically the most efficient route to a location. An example of this would be a dirt line through a grassy field or visible footprints through the snow.
I am also thinking of these lines as indicators of the experience one has while traveling. As one moves locations, is the journey one of excitement, sorry, longing, hope, resistance, rejection, or curiosity?
In the train station’s years of peak attendance, the desire lines must have flooded the area. However, as the years went by and alternate forms of transportation increased, people began to drift away from the station.
As the history of the Michigan Central Depot evolves, how do the desire lines shift and alter?
To learn more please visit:
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~annstew/Detroit_Project/index_detroit.html
(high speed internet access is recommended)
These projected images depict the thoughts of four local residents. Do you have ideas for the future of the train station? Submit your suggestions and see your concepts projected on the building or visit http://www-personal.umich.edu/~smwilcox/seminar/detroit_project.html
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~afinelli/projects/detroitpages/thinking1.html
Michigan Central Station is not just an icon of Detroit, but perhaps also a reminder of the United States’ abandonment of train travel and public transit. I look to many foreign countries that have thriving transit systems and wonder why has America discarded this vitality? (more…)
1057 miles straight west of the Michigan Central Station is the town of Orchard, Nebraska.
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~cameier/detroit/detroit.html
The average American under the age of 35 has very little experience with traveling by train thus the experiences and stories that revolve around train travel have for the most part disappeared. This site will be a reminder of this particular part of America’s past.
