troy NEW YORK
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Critic: Chris PERRY

…The international recognition Detroit is currently experiencing marks the closing chapter to a major transitional period in its lifetime. It is important to understand the forces that have molded the city‘s image since the turn of the century. This book provides a lens into the key proponents of Detroit’s evolution into greatness.

In the wake of the city’s desolation and blight in the later half of the twentieth century, members of the community began to embark on small creative endeavors to revitalize and rebuild neighborhoods. In 2014, Detroit Future City (DFC), an independent nonprofit think tank, was formed to create accessible strategies that citizens could deploy themselves to strengthen the city. DFC sought to expand their reach through large scale speculative explorations. Enter UrbEnact, a small group of designers and urban planners that partnered with DFC in 2017 to imagine radical futures of urban development through the community. The research proposed fusions of public space with systems of mobility and built entities. The work garnered positive reception from the community, sparking a movement to bring some of these ideas to life.

In 2017, global tech industry titan, Amazon, announced its aspiration to erect a second headquarters in the United States. The headquarters was estimated to bring over 50,000 jobs and billions of dollars in capital investment. UrbEnact saw this as the potential catalyst for their radical urbanism. They encouraged DFC and local government officials to back a proposal that would help Detroit stand out amongst hundreds of competing cities. In 2018, UrbEnact partners went to Amazon’s primary headquarters in Seattle with an offer to relinquish authoritative control over Detroit’s policies, activities, and redevelopment operations in exchange for their new headquarters and capital investment. Amazon executives took the offer and immediately began rebuilding Detroit as a hyper-designed corporate campus that followed the principles of DFC and UrbEnact’s studies. Over the next few decades, Amazon orchestrated a redevelopment scheme that rejects automotive transit and isolated programming in favor of public space, urban agriculture, and mixed-performance buildings. The city soon became home to Amazon’s subsidiary companies and technological experiments.

For several decades, the United States has had little involvement in international cultural events as the World’s Fair. Amazon sought to rekindle the ambition and spirit the nation used to have for the fair. The multitude of moving parts Amazon’s redevelopment scheme were directed towards an end goal of an international exposition held on the 200th anniversary of the first ever World’s Fair. By hosting a World’s Fair in Detroit, they could rally the country behind city, give the city a global presence, and attract millions of visitors from around the world. Amazon welcomed celebrated personalities in the architecture discipline to represent different countries with iconic built works that contributed to the public realm. The city became a collection of some of the most daring pavilions in the history of the World’s Fair, most of which paid homage to previous architectural feats of the fair. The success of Expo 51 speaks to the significance of Amazon’s redevelopment project, a project that merges hyper-productivity with spectacle and attraction to create a profound experience for city dwellers.

Abstract:

The later half of the 20th century reshaped the image of Detroit with dilapidated structures,
vacant plots of land, and struggling businesses. In the wake of this blight, government officials,
professional planning groups, and community initiatives began to reassure hope for the city
through small creative endeavors. In 2017, global tech industry titan, Amazon, announced its
aspiration to erect a second headquarters in the United States. The headquarters was estimated to
bring over 50,000 jobs and billions of dollars in capital investment. Detroit planners saw this as
a potential catalyst for the re-invention of Detroit. In an attempt to stand out amongst hundreds
of competing cities, Detroit offered to sell itself to Amazon, submitting complete control over
policies, activities, and redevelopment operations. In 2018, Amazon accepted the offer and began
rebuilding Detroit as a hyper-designed corporate campus that radically engaged the public realm.
The new image of the city rejected automotive transit in favor of public transit and pedestrian
movement. Amazon orchestrated the city’s redevelopment over several decades, concluding
with EXPO 51, an international exhibition welcoming works of celebrity architects, exponentially
increasing tourism, and ultimately giving Detroit a global presence.