An article on The Chicago Tribune talked about modern architecture tours in Michigan. As a fan of architecture, I was glad to see a shout-out to this poor state.
When I work in Detroit (which hasn’t happened lately), I take my handy AIA: Detroit handbook to identify the various buildings throughout the city. Slightly geeky? Most definitely, but my natural curiosity requires me to know what those beautiful, though (in many cases) rotting, buildings are. What if I’m kidnapped and put inside an abandoned building, which could happen wandering through Detroit. I could help the police identify where I was. Knowledge is power, as G.I. Joe used to say.
My favorite of the golden oldies in Detroit is the Michigan Central Depot. Formerly a train station (until 1988) and the site of movie shootings such as The Transformers, the Depot sits quietly as it has for decades. There is the occasional talk of tearing it down, but I hope it stays – it was beautiful once, and if the Michigan economy ever turns around, it could be again.
The current victim of the wrecking ball (figuratively speaking, since they don’t use balls anymore) is the Lafayette Building. If you look closely at the picture, you can see trees growing on top of the building. Talk about a rooftop garden.
I took a training class in downtown Detroit, and I could see the Lafayette Building from the training room. It’s too bad they are tearing it down, partly because it is a sign that things were once better in Detroit, but also because there is no concrete plan for the site. A little park, perhaps? A shooting range? A place to send smoke signals to Canada asking for money?
Back to the Tribune article. There was a link to the Michigan Modern blog, which is one I’ll be following. The Michigan State Historic Preservation Office Blog is another such blog. The posts are not edge-of-your-seat exciting, but they are informative.
Thanks, Tribune! We need all the help we can get.