roy peer blurs the transition from past to present in detroit building

roy peer blurs the transition from past to present in detroit building
all images courtesy of roy peer

the future of detroit is uncertain. entrepreneurs such as dan gilbert believe there is hope to revitalize the city by constructing a new economic force, primarily through service-based means. others foresee the city being washed away by time. unlike other metropolitan areas that evolved into post-industrial service-based economies, detroit is still in its industrial ways. roy peer‘s project ‘tertiarization: pessimist and optimist’ seeks to reflect the city while creating a dynamic that allows the architecture to change depending on the city, but also allow the city to change depending on the architecture.

perspective of the design

the program of the design is mean to serve two user groups with different mentalities towards the revitalization of the metropolis: the economic pessimist and optimist. the sides vary in the idea that one is ready to remember detroit for its glory, while the other that is ready to build into the future.

amphitheater of the auto museum

in response, the project creates events between opposites that will influence and inspire different social interactions. this will inevitably allow the opposites to think as one, whether that is learning from the past, and/or thinking positively about the future. thus, movements throughout the complex are meant to literally and metaphorically represent transitions over time by a conscious use of materials, programmatic organizations, and relationships to the context.

interior of the auto museum with displays of classic cars

the lowest program placed on the site is the automobile history museum. on the exterior, an exposed parking lot lines the edge of an outdoor amphitheater where visitors can watch films projected onto an opposing wall. the interior of the museum presents four rectangular levels of steel, concrete, and glass galleries featuring classic cars and research rooms where information is archived. the next vertical compartment includes the lobby with glazed collaboration rooms that provide views of the city. from here, the overall form appears to morph into an irregular floor plan that houses an auditorium for entrepreneurs with startups, private offices, and collaboration spaces.

rendering of a collaboration space

chart explaining the economic development of countries

programmatic transitions throughout the complex

physical changes in materiality to represent the mentality from pessimist to optimist

axonometric drawing 

Plans

startup programmatic axon

auto history programmatic axon

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.