Lester Lim | CV & Architecture Portfolio IV

DENSITY IS DESTINY
The wider metroplitan area is riddled with vacant property as
most of Detroit’s population have fled to the wider suburbs.
Public transit in the city is only available in the downtown
area, with the wider parts relying heavily on cars to get
around. For a sprawling, hollow city like Detroit suffering
from limited resources, Density is destiny for the sake of the
efficient allocation of resources and safety.
360 sqkm land area
Fallen to 40% of population
Automobile
Industry Boom
Higher use and demand for automobiles
More jobs and higher salary
Purchase of
cars & houses
in the suburbs
More infrastructure to support
Construction of
highways
& suburbs
50 years ago
5000 Officers
<3 mile crime
scene radius
Today
3000 Officers
>7.5 mile crime
scene radius
Difficult to implement municipal service:
Detroit’s Urban Growth Model: Vicious cycle of sprawl
and automobile dependency
Fire Department, trash collection, road
maintenance, street lighting etc
SITE SELECTION
The Packard Automotive plant was chosen as the project’s
intervention site due to it’s iconic reputation for being the
epitome of post-industrial decay and abandonment in a
rust-belt city like Detroit. It sits in between two residential
neighbourhoods that have vast amounts of vacant homes
and many more slated for demolition, due to reasons like
economic downturn, the lack of access to amenities, safety,
suburban flight etc. These highly-layered issues stem mostly
from the poor urban structure of Detroit which was built to
serve the 20th-century automobile-boom economy.
Image Source: https://www.autoblog.com/photos/packard-automotive-plant-auction/#slide-1550109