agent entrepreneur - university of michigan
TRANSCRIPT
84 85
Social ProductionReformatting Studio Space
Justin Mast
86 87
The Spirit of Detroit
Agent Entrepreneur
Clockwise from Left : Jerr y
Paffendorf and Mar y Lorene
Car ter of LOVELAND1, Oneita Por ter, Designer and
Owner of GrrlDog Jewerly2,
Andy and Emily Linn of City
Bird3, SOUP4, Sarah Lipinski of Wound Menswear in her 2000 Brooklyn workspace5, Mike Han of Street Culture Mash, and Claire Nelson of the Bureau of Urban Living6.
The days of mourning Detroit are over,
especially if you ask Detroiters. After years
of highlighted fallout, glorified ruin, and
declarations that the city is dead—the tune
has changed. And it’s changing from the inside
out. A new breed of wide-eyed wild men and
women are moving back into the city and
declaring it a land of opportunity. Deserted
properties, stretched infrastructure, and
unpredictable services were reasons for
concern; but now the city is being seen
as cheap land, homes, and buildings, an
opportunity for off-the-grid development,
and free-reign. Detroit entrepreneurs are
bringing restaurants, bakeries, bike shops,
and produce into the city—not to mention
money, jobs, and occupancy. This decade
may the be start of a new era in Detroit—one
marked by optimism and opportunity. It
seems that today in Detroit, there’s nothing
entrepreneurship cannot accomplish.
(see “Agent Entrepreneur” in The Normal, Vol. I)
88 89
With over 150 commercial tenants, including
architects, painters, clothing designers, glass
blowers, wood craftsman, metal sculptors,
and graphic designers, the Russell Industrial
Center is the classic example of abundant and
cheap space available in Detroit. Designed
in 1915, by Albert Khan, the structure was
Russell Industrial Center
built to accommodate the growing auto body
manufacturing business of the Murry Body
Company. After years of being abandoned,
Dennis Kefallinos purchased the building
in 2003 and converted into more than one
million square feet of studio space and lofts.
In many ways, the building’s design for its
Precedent—Detroit
former use as a manufacturing facility, has
served its tenants well. The space is raw
and secluded, perfect for the manufacturing
component of new small scale makers. That
being said, today’s maker-businesses need to
thrive at far more than just manufacturing.
Successful new business models emerging
are collaborative and open. Production
now involves ever changing partnerships
and teams. Entrepreneurs are required to
be producers, salespeople and marketers.
Customers want to not only see behind the
curtain, but also play a role in the making of
their goods. In terms of meeting these needs,
the Russell is less effective. Some makers and
entrepreneurs are finding themselves buried
in the center of a massive complex, isolated
from each other and from their customers.
To be sure, the Russell is providing Detroit
with something important—low cost flexible
space for making and designing. That said, it’s
not the complete picture. If Detroit continues
to attract and produce independent maker-
businesses, we need to be ready for the next
step—an architecture that enhances and
catapults new social production processes,
the same way Khan’s designs did for the mass
production era.
From left to right: GMaps Aerial of The Russell Industrial Center, an interior space at the Russell (March 2011), same interior space in 2008 by Christian Unverzagt.
90 91
The Eastern Market is another example of
thriving entrepreneurship in Detroit. “As
many as 40,000 people flock to Eastern
Market for its Saturday Market to enjoy one
of the most authentic urban adventures
in the United States. The market and the
adjacent district are rare finds in a global
Eastern Market
economy - a local food district with more
than 250 independent vendors and merchants
processing, wholesaling, and retailing food.
At the heart of Eastern Market is
a six-block public market that has been
feeding Detroit since 1891. Every Saturday
it is transformed into a vibrant marketplace
Precedent—Detroit
with hundreds of open-air stalls where
everyone from toddlers to tycoons enjoy the
strong conviviality served up along with great
selections of fruits, veggies, fresh-cut flowers,
homemade jams, maple syrups, locally
produced specialty food products, pasture
and/or grass-fed meat.”7
By serving as a larger entity under which
many independent entrepreneurs gather, the
“Easter Market” creates something tangible
that customers can approach. One doesn’t
need to know about a specific cucumber
farmer, for example, to know where to find
fresh, locally produced cucumbers. While
From left to right: Eastern Market’s plan for it’s public core8, a vendor unloading produce9, a bird’s eye view of a portion of the Eastern Market as proposed10 , and a scene inside of one of the market’s interior spaces.
buying locally from dozens of independent
vendors, Detroit restaurants can still go to
one place at one time for their supply.
Building on this success, the Easter
Market has big plans. They are expanding
the market to include more places for food
production, they are planning out live/work
spaces, and they are planning on connecting
to the DeQuindre to enhance the pedestrian
access to the market. In their plan, however,
they have decided to limit their focus to
produce. The Easter Market is a place for
selling meats, vegetables, and flowers—not
clothing, furniture, and paintings.
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The Globe Trading Company Building, also
knows as the Detroit Dry Dock Company
Complex, is located at the Rivertown
Warehouse District, just Northeast of
Downtown Detroit. It sits adjacent to the
Tricentennial State Park and Harbor and
is located at the intersection of Riverfront
Conservancy and the Dequindre Cut.
The Dequindre Cut, a below-grade
1.35-mile pathway, offers a pedestrian link
between the Riverfront paths, Eastern Market,
and many of the residential neighborhoods in
between. These pedestrian paths, community
focused bike shops, and the Eastern Market
have created a car-less and local market
lifestyle potential in this city. The Globe
Building is situated perfectly to tap into this
network.
1801 Atwater Street
The intersection of Detroit’s
pedestrian corridor
The Globe Trading Co. Building
DE
QU
I ND
RE
CU
T
EASTERN
MARKET
D E T R O I T R I V E R F R O N T C O N S E RV
AN
CY
CANADA
JEFFERSON
94 95
Atwater St. Globe Trading Co. Building DeQuindre Cut Greenway Trail Franklin St. Woodbridge St. E. Jefferson Ave. Undeveloped DeQuindre CutRiver WalkDry Dock No. 2 (1982)Detroit River
Started in the mid 1852, the Globe Trading
Building consists of six interconnected
buildings. The complex is significant as a
remnant of Detroit’s once considerable
maritime manufacturing industry. For
decades, this facility made and repaired ships
and also manufactured ship engines. For a
time, the building also housed the Dry Dock
Hotel.11
Building History
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Atwater St. Globe Trading Co. Building DeQuindre Cut Greenway Trail Franklin St. Woodbridge St. E. Jefferson Ave. Undeveloped DeQuindre CutRiver WalkDry Dock No. 2 (1982)Detroit River
Proposed Design:
Adaptive Reuse of the Globe Building
Section A 1/32” = 1’
98 99
Atwater St. Globe Trading Co. Building DeQuindre Cut Greenway Trail Franklin St. Woodbridge St. E. Jefferson Ave. Undeveloped DeQuindre CutRiver WalkDry Dock No. 2 (1982)Detroit River
100 101
Atwater St. Globe Trading Co. Building DeQuindre Cut Greenway Trail Franklin St. Woodbridge St. E. Jefferson Ave. Undeveloped DeQuindre CutRiver WalkDry Dock No. 2 (1982)Detroit River
102 103
104 105
The Globe Trade Building has evolved
over time; a collection of buildings built over
the years—a dry dock facility, ship building,
engine manufacturing, and a hotel. My
program in based on having a few key players:
hotel/restaurant, studio/office developer,
fabrication shop, and Shed 7—an extension of
the Eastern Market.
Each stakeholder brings a certain
strategic advantage to the table in both
construction and on going activity. The
Eastern Market acquires the land, the
fabrication shop contributes to the
construction, the studio/office developer
funds new construction, while the hotel pays
for building restoration.
Injecting new life into the
building’s history
Program
Sub
Sub
Sub
Sub
Architect + Contractor
FabricationShop
MarketPlace
Studio +OfficeOwner
Hotel+Restaurant
FabricationShop
Client
Construction sequence: starts with the
fabrication shop.
Dry Dock Hotel
Studio Spaces
Market Halls
Collaborative
Spaces
106 107
Ground Floor Plan 1/32” = 1’ Second Floor Plan 1/32” = 1’
108 109STUDIO–OFFICE Spaces
110 111Main Hall
112 113
Dry Dock Hotel–Restaurant
114 115
Eastern Market Extension
116 117
The main halls are left in place, serving as
flex space used by all groups in the building.
During the day, the FLEX spaces serve as
workspace for the fabrication shop and the
studio occupants. We’re seeing that local/
micro-manufacturing models run differently
than traditional large scale manufacturing.
Tenants might spread out for a collaborative
manufacturing process with another tenant
in the building or with another business
from outside of the building, or even outside
FLEX Spaces/Shed 7
Detroit. The spaces are available for special
events where tenants might invite their
customers to co-design and co-make items.
During evenings in the summer, the
restaurant is able to spread out into the East
Hall space. Typically, they’ll use the space for
summer seating, but they may also rent the
space out for catering special events or for
concerts from the Bar/Lounge.
During weekends, the Eastern
Market spills into the FLEX spaces to host
non-produce related trade. Vendors, either
tenants or regional makers, activate the two
halls with market-style commerce.
118 119
120 121
Section B 1/32” = 1’Section Detail
(next page)
122 123
Structure Restored
Structure Removed
Structure Added
Section Detail 1/4” = 1’ Material Use
Construction Diagram
124 125
Circulation Diagram
126 127
North Entrance Sequence and Skylight
Atwater St. Globe Trading Co. Building DeQuindre Cut Greenway Trail Franklin St. Woodbridge St. E. Jefferson Ave. Undeveloped DeQuindre CutRiver WalkDry Dock No. 2 (1982)Detroit River
128 129
Detroit is a place full of contradiction
and irony. The enthusiasm and belief in
entrepreneurship is real. There are things
working in Detroit that would not work
anywhere else. The wild-eyed bunch that
inhabit the place are as authentic as they
come. And they believe in their city—they
will insist Detroit does not need rebirth
or rejuvenation, it’s already alive. There is
The NORMAL Detroit
another side though. Car rims still get stolen.
A visitor gets sidetracked and ends up in the
wrong part of town. An unexpected turn can
enchant or demystify the place. You can never
be sure what Detroit you will get. One day it’s
the place of opportunity, the next, your car
gets broken in to. The problems are real. This
is the normal in Detroit—a place of extremes.
486 487
Flexible Living (pages 3-39)
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Social Production (pages 85-129)
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