SLOWS 2 Go / detroit mi
Slows To Go is the carry-out version of Slows Barbecue, one of the most successful and trendy restaurants in the city of Detroit. Located on the Cass Corridor in Mid-town, the 2000 sq ft public lobby and carry-out counter is accompanied by a 4000 sq ft commercial catering kitchen and commissary, all housed within a renovated one story limestone and brick structure built in 1926. All of the wood utilized in the interior finish and entry vestibule was harvested from a condemned structure not far from the site. While the exterior of the project strictly adheres to national preservation standards – allowing it to receive federal historic tax-credits – the interior provides a strikingly contemporary and vibrant atmosphere that is more revealing of the attitudes of both client and clientele.
roosevelt park / detroit mi
(in collaboration with tadd heidgerken, architect)
The vision for Roosevelt Park, in the Corktown neighborhood of Detroit, is one that would transform a blighted city property into a sustainable public space providing a range of amenities to serve the local neighborhood on a daily basis, as well as offer a regional attraction by hosting planned musical, cultural, gastronomic, and athletic events. The designers seek to leverage and coordinate disparate volunteering and funding efforts that are abundant throughout the city. On a pro-bono basis, and with the direction of local non-profits and community members, the designers propose an open framework intended to evolve as community interaction with the park defines its program. This framework can be defined as an organizational system within which a series of incremental community-based programmatic interventions are deployed over a number of years. While the city government is unable to give financial support, they both approved and encouraged the initiative, as it dovetails into the Parks and Recreation Department’s mission. In an effort to develop a comprehensive program for the park ‘master plan’ that balances these desires, a constant dialogue with the community is maintained through planned civic events and the documentation and publication of the design process.
The ‘Master Plan’, as such, does not take the form of an explicit document, to be executed over a set period of time, according to a linear sequence of construction benchmarks. The design instead consists of an adaptable, narrative, non-linear phasing plan that reacts to this framework. The four overlapping phases of the park’s development- Revealing Program, Demarcation, Claiming Community Territory, and Suturing- all represent specific land-use and construction strategies that will facilitate the insertion of park elements on a seasonal, annual, and permanent basis. Some of these programmatic elements include an amphitheater, skate plaza, and athletic courts. Each of these overarching principles will interact to create a public amenity that can attract visitors from all over the metro-region, while simultaneously empowering the local community to take control of their urban space Temporary landscape interventions have been built by community volunteers that serve as both a fund-raising tool and a prelude to the future permanent park.