DSFA Detroit Station for the Arts

Detroit is the largest city in the state of Michigan and was one of the most powerful industrial centres in the country. Hosting Ford, Chrysler and General Motors headquarters, the city had a huge metropolitan area which attracted workers who stablished there on the rise of industrialization. In the sixties European and Japanese automobile industries started to arrive to the United States. The quality of the Japanese product caused Detroit’s gradual loss in competitiveness and it is during these years that the city begins to desolate.

Detroit currently has a total area of 359 km2, 800,000 empty structures and 33,500 abandoned homes. Most of them are in ruins and have come to auction for $1. The most emblematic abandonment is the central railway station, the Michigan Central Station.

Nonetheless, Detroit’s 21st century new industry is art. Artists from all over the world are coming to the city because of the low prices and affordable housing. A new youth generation sees Detroit as a free city where you can easily create.

We propose to rehabilitate the abandoned Detroit’s central station to transform it into a hybrid building full of life, a centre for the Arts. Including spacious workshops, showrooms, selling points and meeting rooms. It will also be combined with artist’s residences and a small hotel for tourists that love art. A central station intended for people and culture interchange, with the purpose to regenerate the station’s area.