These are a collection of images from August 2024 of downtown and the JW Marriott site being developed by Sterling Group and designed by Neumann Smith Architecture.
The Shepherd + Little Village Updates - August 2024
The Curis family is in the midst of creating an incredible arts and residential district on the east side of Detroit in Little Village. This year saw the opening of The Shepherd, a rehabilitated church and grounds designed by Rich Peterson Office, and The Lantern, a refurbished industrial building designed by OMA. These building conversions are bringing new gallery spaces as well as cultural amenities to a part of the city that had been forgotten by developers. It is exciting to see what the future holds for the area as more and more of the Curis’ vision comes to life.
Detroit Architectural Photography - 8/9/2024
Brush Park
For many years Brush Park was a neighborhood on the decline. Its’ gilded age mansions had fallen into disrepair and the few that remained were surrounded by urban prairies. The addition of CIty Modern, as well as many restorations and other ground up residential buildings, has really altered the fate and feel of the neighborhood. While much of the building stock that gave its’ initial character have been lost, many of the mansions have been restored and now there is a really fascinating mix of modern homes filling in the gaps between the historic structures. Some people don’t like that the new buildings aren’t of a similar style, but I am in the camp that thinks that the contrast between the historic and modern allows one to appreciate both styles even more. This post is a small fraction of what is going on in the neighborhood but gives you a feel for the changes underway.
Dodge Fountain
For years the Isamu Noguchi designed Dodge Fountain in Hart Plaza had been shut off, occasionally used for events like Jazz Fest, but inactive at all other times. Scrappers had run off with many of the fountain’s components and due to the unique design, replacement was deemed too costly. That was until this year, when the city of Detroit invested money in restoring the fountain to its’ former glory, allowing many Detroiters to experience the water feature for the first time. In addition to the water flowing through the pipes again, the lighting was restored as well. Look for images of that in a future blog post.