Join Docomomo US/Michigan on a bus tour to explore the varied legacy of urban renewal in Detroit.
Detroit was at the forefront of the urban renewal movement in the mid-20th century with projects like Lafayette Park and the Medical Center. These developments, however, were built on the bones of two once-thriving Black neighborhoods, Black Bottom and Paradise Valley. Led by Detroit historian Jamon Jordan, the tour will explore how urban renewal changed the buildings, landscapes, and people of Detroit.
The tour will begin at the heart of Black Bottom in Lafayette Park, designated a National Historic Landmark in 2015 as an exemplar of post World War II urban planning and as the largest collection of buildings designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Then we’ll head east and north to explore the lesser-known impacts of urban renewal in the stadium and Medical Center areas. We’ll stop at several Modernist churches built as a result of urban renewal, including Calvary Baptist, designed by Gunnar Birkerts, and discover traces of Black Bottom and Paradise Valley that escaped the wrecking balls.
This tour is organized by the Docomomo US/Michigan chapter and will be led by Jamon Jordan, Detroit historian, educator, and founder of Black Scroll Network History and Tours.
Advance registration required
$25 Docomomo members / $35 non-members / $15 students (become a Docomomo US member or renew your membership here)
Ticket cost is underwritten in part by Docomomo US/Michigan.
Meeting place, logistics and other details to be provided upon registration.
This event is part of Docomomo US Tour Day 2023.
Renewal or Removal? Revisiting Mid-Century Urbanism in Detroit
Logistics and details to be provided upon registration.
Detroit, MI
Left: Aerial View of Detroit showing Lafayette Park and the Detroit Skyline, circa 1960s; Photographer: Jacques Demeter
Right: John Lee Hooker in front of Joe's Record Shop on Hasting Street, Detroit,1959; Image from Detroit News article "Visit Detroit's Historic Black Bottom in these historical pictures."
