True North Detroit Buildings, Low Cost Michigan Architecture, Mixed Use Design, Architect
True North Detroit
Progressive Architecture Awards, Low Cost Building Development Michigan, USA – design by EC3, Architects
4 May 2016
True North, Detroit
Design: architect Edwin Chan, EC3, Los Angeles
Affordable Community Project – A winner of the 64th Progressive Architecture Awards
Location: Detroit, Michigan, USA
True North – Detroit Quonset Hut Village
Winner of an honorable mention in the 2017 P/A Awards
?I appreciate its lightfootedness in thinking about how to rebuild Detroit. By taking some of empty land and filling it rather inexpensively with a community program, it creates a beacon that would be great to visit.?
?juror Barbara Bestor, AIA

When it comes to rebuilding Detroit, there?s no lack of energy and ideas, both from locals and from designers around the country. The difficulty is making big-ticket redevelopment projects work in a city where grassroots creativity doesn?t often come hand-in-hand with deep pockets, reports the Architect Magazine.

And while the focus on creative solutions is certainly a plus, there?s also no guarantee that the outsiders coming to town to help lead the push today will still be around tomorrow. Los Angeles?based EC3 understands those complexities, which is why its design for True North?a 7,000-square-foot mixed-use project 2.5 miles away from downtown?is centered around an easily constructable and decidedly cost-friendl...