Detroit Station for Arts
1762-JOL-DTW.US-2015
Architects: Jorge Olano, Raúl Jariod
Client: Archmedium
Status: Academic Competition (2015)
Clasification: Finalist
Location: Detroit, United States
Coordinates: 42.328916, -83.077662
Climate: Continental, Temperate
Material: Undefined
Environment: Railway
Visualizer: Studio
Scale: Large
Types: Cultural, Mixed use

“The age of personal statues is gone. No personal statues shall be erected in the city or parks of Chandigarh. The city is planned to breathe the new sublimated spirit of art. Commemoration of persons shall be confined to suitability placed bronze plaques.” – Charles-Édoudard Jeanneret, The edict of Chandigarh, 1959

NEW ATMOSPHERES. In 2013 Detroit becomes the first city who became BANKCRUPT with a debt of more than 13.000 million of dollars. One of the richest in the 70s is nowadays an empty city where thousands of structures are abandoned and people try to escape from this phantasmagoric place.

The project try to convert the old monument into a NEW ATTRACTION, artists from all over the world will come and will live here as a community. The old industries are the past, the artists and their pieces are the future, and this intervention is the first step to create an icon in which every creator can expose his job.

Artists and citizens can enjoy the place, including 5 scenarios and more squares; concerts, shows, conferences and everything can be done. The great principal space with more than 25 meters high is the center of the intervention, all the others spaces are focused on it. On the contrary to the old building, sights, air, light and free spaces are really important for us.

The main square it’s not only an scenario, is the heart of the project, a meeting point for people to do everything they want, when they want, day or night. Arches, domes, pillars, beams, belvederes, greenhouses, patios are some of the elements that create a plenty of DIVERSES ATMOSPHERES. Playing with the light and the darkness, we get to develop ambiances where the person and his creativity is the most important.

STRATEGIES. The old project of the 19th century had a classical conception of the space, overlapping plans, with no views and no spaces for people. The floor plan is quite interesting; however the office tower is a bored place. That’s the reason why we keep the entry hall and the restoration of the back greenhouses, they are spaces really interesting.

The idea is the explosion of the tower, the creation of a huge public and holistic square which divides two worlds, the dark floor plan where people can walk across the building and visit the different expositions. And then, the light one, the great amphiteathre, where people can sit down and talk about everything, with more than 20 m of height this space is really impressive.

Then on the higher floors, different uses are mixed with double height spaces, playing the compression of the volumes we get different feelings. The stations is finished with the creation of new roof for the project, the old one is converted in a new and high-tech one with the use of ETFE plastics. The light is the main material, and the limits between outdoors and indoors are blurred.

Competition: Detroit Station for Arts | Post date: 18/01/2017 | Views: 4.216