Bridging the Gap

Abstract

I am proposing to address the connection/collision of University of Detroit Mercy and the surrounding community of Harmony Village. I am attempting to link two incompatible sites and make them work as one. Creating this mixing ground will create relationship between these two different areas of the University of Detroit Mercy and the neighborhood of Harmony Village. This will develop a relationship between students of the university and the residents of the community. With the community and students/university working together it creates the opportunity to assist in the building of the community space. The problem of pedestrian movement is highly evident problem in the area because of this turning Livernois into a boulevard is a must. Creating this boulevard will create a flow from one space to another, whether that will be on east or west portions of the site. Collisions of space within the site will generate movement and interaction with the site and space. The central focus of this program is to bring together spaces, people and communities that may not have interacted willingly. The space will house a variety of uses; commercial , recreational and resident. These uses will not only be used by the community/university but by the people beyond the community. It will be seen as a melting pot, where people from different backgrounds and possibly different futures are able to coexist within this area, even if it is only for a short time. It is my opinion that a building cannot fix a city but one space can assist in rebuilding a neighborhood.