CHARRETTE 2000—Michigan at Trumbull: Turning the Corner?

Introduction
The University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning hosted its second annual urban design charrette January 7–11, 2000. It focused on the Greater Corktown and Briggs neighborhoods. This intensive, five-day planning and design workshop brought together some of Detroit’s leading design professionals as well as top urban designers from across the nation and graduate students from several universities. It culminated in a presentation of the results on January 11 at the Teamsters Welfare Fund Building at 2700 Trumbull Street. The public was invited to this presentation, which included remarks by Dennis Archer, mayor of the City of Detroit.

The greater Corktown and Briggs Neighborhoods were selected as the focus of this year’s charrette because these areas are experiencing transition with the removal of the Tigers baseball team to Comerica Park and hold great potential for new growth opportunities. Although organized by Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, several other schools at the University of Michigan, as well as Wayne State and Michigan State Universities, contributed students and/or faculty. Additional sponsors included Detroit Edison, the City of Detroit Department of Planning and Development, and the Teamsters Joint Council #43. Participating organizations included the Corktown Citizen’s District Council, the Corktown Consumer Housing Cooperative, the Greater Corktown Economic Development Corporation, and The Greening of Detroit.

Last year’s inaugural charrette focused on the Lower Cass area of Detroit and attracted a great deal of interest. It also gave rise to other projects. Robert Levit, assistant professor of architecture, received funding to design a series of residential prototypes that would be suitable for urban infill housing in the Cass Corridor and has had interest expressed by local developers in producing one or more of his designs.

Who was involved?

Over twenty distinguished design professionals accepted the invitation to participate for the five days of competition and collaboration. Many are nationally acclaimed guests from out-of-state. The team leaders, according to Dean Douglas Kelbaugh, who has organized more than twenty such events, are probably “the best way to get the most creative proposals for addressing the most difficult problems from the most accomplished designers in the most compressed period of time.” Each guest co-lead one of five teams with a faculty member from Taubman College and a design professional selected from a local design firm or institution, as well as a community representative. Each team included about 12 students, primarily from Taubman College but also of the School of Art and Design, the Landscape Architecture Program of the School of Natural Resources and the Environment, as well as Wayne State University and Michigan State University. Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk of Duany Plater-Zyberk in Miami brought additional students from the University of Miami, where she is Dean of the School of Architecture. There were other consultants, including three urban historians and a public artist, working with the teams.

When was it?
The charrette took place January 7–11, 2000. There was a public slide presentation and discussion of the charrette results in the second floor auditorium of the Teamsters Welfare Fund Building located at 2700 Trumbull, to which all interested parties and stakeholders, from local residents to the Mayor and City Council, were invited. Faculty members are leading follow-up design studios during the balance of the winter term. A booklet will be produced that documents the results of both the charrette and follow-up studios. This booklet will be distributed to stakeholders, participants, elected officials and interested citizens.

Where was it?
The design teams focused on the area between Michigan Avenue and Temple Street, from 14th Street on the west to the Lodge Freeway on the east, including Tiger Stadium and the Michigan Central Train Depot. Teams had the option of expanding the site north to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in their plans. The charrette began with a walking tour of the site and environs, followed by a briefing of all participants by civic and neighborhood leaders and professionals. The teams worked at the Detroit Edison headquarters overlooking the project area.

Why?
Re-development efforts in a city need the benefit of creative planning and design in their formative stages. Neighborhoods and cities should not be planned without the help of design professionals working directly in the community. Urban design is an interactive process that involves illustrating and testing ideas and plans in three dimensions. Paul Bernard, director of the Detroit Planning and Development Department, suggested the study area and local community groups embraced the exercise in hopes that it may help them to clarify a vision and to jumpstart investment and development in the area. This charrette was offered pro bono to the community as a contribution to the revitalization of Detroit as the city defines itself for the next century.

Results

Team Participants
The visiting and local design professionals and faculty members participating in this charrette included:

Team One

Student participants

• Esperanza Andrade, UM
• William DuBose, Jr., UM
• Maria Kalea, UM
• Sungjae Lee, UM
• Corey Malyszka, UM
• Atsuko Mori, UM
• Tae Jun Park, UM
• Kaybe Carpenter, UM SOAD
• Shawn Severance, UM SNRE
• Dana Leach, Univ. of Miami
• Michael Boettcher, WSU

Team Two

Professional participants

Student participants

Team Three

Professional participants

Professional participants

Student participants

Professional participants

Sponsors and Participating Organizations

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