Tear Down that House, Detroit Do-Gooders

Of course that headline make me cringe.

I worked on the Restoration of the old State House in Philadelphia, commonly known as Independence Hall. And I worked upon the Assembly Room where some famous documents were penned and agreed upon and signed.

And I worked with the people who initiated the modern Architectural Preservation and Restoration Movement in America. They were some very integrous and delightful people.

And the very wonderful Editorialist from the Free Press, Louis Cook, introduced me to Preservation Wayne and they were fretting because they had been told a lie. So I solved the problem for them by showing them that it was simply untrue. They hired me to restore the Mackenzie house and it took some time and I watched it like a hawk. Twice every day.

I had just built the Center for Creative Studies' "Tinker Toy Building" designed by Bill Kessler.

So as that was nearing completion there were some articles on John George who became our Curtis Sliwa, the guardian angle of the blighted houses.

Met him at Sully's Blues Bar and we talked.

Now John is a very well intentioned human being and has fun at what he does. And like the Habitat for Humanity group of "Do Gooders" he has sought to stabilize the area around Redford and Brighmoor.

But I think that there is a problem with both groups.

When you look at the state of the houses in Detroit it is a very evident thing that the houses designed by Architects have fared the best and lasted the longest.

The Republicans kept destroying the laws that insisted that architects be involved interestingly enough and a fellow Architect helped in the almost complete eradication of such concerns.

And what has happened is the development of some absolutely horrible stuff done without architects.

A famous national organization has put up housing that has all the look of Southern Sharecroppers Shacks updated.

So there you have the "Damned Do Gooders" hard at work dragging down the cities. While their work has the virtue of being new and fresh and up to modern code, it really isn't up to snuff Architecturally.

So while you have to commend them for their intentions and their efforts, you would be hard pressed to say that what they have done is utterly wonderful, at least as good as those wonderful houses designed in the 20's and 30's.

Some people don't believe in education. Some people don't believe that Architects can make a difference. But I will assert that they can make a huge difference and are skilled at designing things that will last more than one lifetime and still serve very well for many, many years.

Architects and Architect-Planners really are the answer, despite the fact that some are too undedicated to understand and recognize that.

Bill

So Karen,

I know the difference between the real stuff and the sham stuff and believe me, the real stuff is great whether it is in Philadelphia, Boston, or Detroit.

And the sham stuff along Lakeshore in Grosse Pointe is just as appalling as the sham stuff done by the "Do Gooders" elsewhere.

The issue is Design Integrity.

bill

Bill -

I have only been reading this blog regularly for a few weeks, and often, as you can see, I am a day or two behind. In my reading of them, however, I notice that you are almost always, if not always, the first to comment on them. And often the only one to comment. Your comments, however, are typically very confusing to me. I don't know anything about you, of course, but you talk in your post today as if you revere education and are perhaps educated yourself. And yet, your comments often are circular and/or contradictory, and typically full of grammatical errors. You frequently contradict the blogger of the day, also, taking an opposite point of view. And yet, in your reasons for contradicting the blogger, you end up contradicting yourself. That's sort of what I mean by circular. So, as I said at the beginning, your comments are very confusing to me.

In this blog, for instance, you criticize the "Do Gooders" for their lack of education and architectural experience. However, the "Do Gooders" that were written about by the blogger, in this case, were/are not building houses, but tearing down dilapidated, burned out shells of houses and creating functional vegetable gardens to serve the community. They are totally different sides of a coin. You need to explain your criticism in better language and clarify what you are really unhappy about for many of us to understand what you mean.

Do you live anywhere near the Brightmoor or Redford areas? Have you witnessed any of the transformation taking place there? I do and I have. I have lived near Brightmoor and Redford for ten years and have traveled through them regularly once or more a week. This summer, I joined the Detroit Garden Resource Program and I am in Brightmoor even more often collecting compost and wood chips for my garden. I am quite excited about what I see as the beginnings of a major transformation of the area. And I believe that a major transformation is taking place in the hearts and minds of many of its citizens, also, especially the young people who are doing most of the gardening.

I think Brightmoor, through its citizens, and with the help of the work of the Blight Busters and the Garden Resource program, may actually effect a total turn around and become, once again, a proud community and one in which citizens move into and not away from. Some day, before long, we may even see Fenkell transformed and instead of the sign which reads "Fenkell Pet Store, Any Varmit You Want, Free", we will see real Pet Stores, viable banks, more eating places, and maybe even a new theater rise from the ashes of what Fenkell is mostly today.

Caroline