Above, I identified available buildings and parcels owned by the Detroit Land Bank on a single block to design block-level rehab strategies.

I drew from American and international experiences in building new towns to move away from the standard garden-apartment approach to low-rise density in affordable housing. Underpinning principles include frequent ground-level entries, defined and bounded open spaces, and clear distinctions among public, private, and semi-private realms.

In the semi-pastoral neighborhood of Brightmoor, I envisioned the redevelopment of a large DHC-owned site as a semi-urban commercial node anchoring a less conventional development strategy. Relying only on Land Bank parcels, mid-rise housing would anchor productive landscapes (in brown), such as solar arrays and maple syrup sites. These nodes of productive activity would be interwoven with greenway trails and a new semi-urban fabric parallel to what remains of Brightmoor's 1940s worker cottages.

Infill at a public housing site on the edge of Midtown Detroit; 3D Model produced in Rhino

Open space and historic architecture act as anchors for perimeter-block redevelopment