Give a Park Get a Park Design Competition in Detroit

Description

JOIN THE RESIDENTS AND CITY OF DETROIT THIS SUMMER IN REALIZING A NEW NEIGHBORHOOD PARK! 

Do you have the best design ideas, community engagement skills, and creative talent to join residents in developing their new park in one of Detroit's strong neighborhoods? The 'Give a Park, Get a Park' competition targets local and regional design students and emerging professionals in architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, and urban design. We want your energy and presence for a broad-based community engagement effort that asks Detroit residents what they want to see in their neighborhood park – and delivers via thoughtful exchange of dialogue and design. Come to Detroit this summer and be a part of a new landscape-based revitalization strategy!

GIVE A PARK, GET A PARK

In this project the City of Detroit will ‘give a park’ – offer to sell a mid-block, decommissioned mini-park to adjacent community residents, allowing residents to increase financial equity and physical stake in their neighborhoods.  The same neighborhood will then ‘get a park’ – a larger park comprised of vacant, city-owned corner lots less than a mile from the former park.  This new park will be planned and designed through a combined community engagement process and innovative design competition.

Like many American cities, Detroit has a legacy of neighborhood mini parks under an acre that have fallen out of use due to poor location or lack of resources.  In addition, maintenance is the largest expense in the public park budget.  With ‘Give a Park, Get a Park’ Detroit seeks to offer more populated neighborhoods a better urban park experience that minimizes maintenance expenses while maximizing accessibility and enhancing public life.

We invite the brightest designers to join Detroit residents in realizing better neighborhood parks.  This competition targets local and regional design talent, as well as students and emerging professionals in architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, and urban design.  Stipends will allow selected teams to participate in community meetings and visit project sites before finally presenting their ideas in a larger forum.

MORNINGSIDE NEIGHBORHOOD

Morningside is a far east-side neighborhood with a combination of historic homes and newer built Habitat for Humanity houses. Residents range from school children to seniors, all of whom are seeking more park amenities.  The only city park in this neighborhood is Fiori Park, an inactive park less than half an acre, on the very north border along the I-94 highway.  The proposed park site at the corner of Three Mile Drive and Munich would relocate this single amenity to a more much accessible location.  The challenge is to address the four soon-to-be vacant street corners and give this neighborhood the real park that they have long been waiting for.

SITE CONDITIONS

How can four corners combine to make one cohesive park? This site features a number of particular, dynamic conditions that must be harnessed:
1) the northeast corner features an existing community-built memorial called Mothers Park; 
2) the northwest corner is currently vacant but will expand with a planned house demolition; 
3) the southeast and southwest corners have blighted houses that will be demolished; and
4) the southwest corner has a mid-block playscape that was recently built without community input and must be merged with the larger design.


DESIGN OPPORTUNITIES

• Currently a four-way intersection allows one-way, non-stop traffic from north to south and bidirectional yield traffic east-west.  What kinds of traffic calming methods or traffic pattern adjustments could provide safety for residents, especially with the prospect of four corner park pieces?  
• Incorporate the existing mid-block park with its playground equipment into the larger design vision.  Should the playground be re-positioned?
• Incorporate the existing Mothers Park memorial into the larger design vision.  It is a space for community art, murals, and gathering for meetings.  How might this program and unique character be celebrated, maintained and also enhanced?  
• Design residential screening from park activities and improve lighting, security and surveillance methods.  How can a residential park be a safe, space and but also remain buffered from adjacent homes?
• Increase fitness opportunities for all age groups. What kinds of activities will safely and proportionally fit in this space?

VISION

The ‘Give a Park, Get a Park’ project has 3 goals in mind: 1) City agency coordination 2) Active community engagement 3) Design excellence achieved through an open competition

PROCESS

This project takes place in a strong neighborhood where opportunities exist to exchange a surplus, decommissioned park with a vacant corner lot in a better location. The competition to design this new park space stimulates the emerging professional design community within Detroit as well as regionally and nationwide.

RESULTS

We seek to cultivate public spaces where residents can meet, eat, play, plan, and share the unique identity of their neighborhood. In addition to sharing the top park design submissions from the result of this competition, the City of Detroit will publish a how-to guide to support future efforts within Detroit as well as provide a model for other cities.