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  • 313OdeToBelleIsle
  • (313) 669-8413, Call the Scene: Jewel of Detroit, Ode to Belle Isle
  • Everybody's favorite, from our perspective + experience--a look into the place we go to escape, our own little island, our Detroit Jewel...

    Saybin Samone Roberson and Catie Goins

    August 3, 2026

    architecture, culture, columns - detroit city

  • 313Architecture
  • (313) 669-8413: Architecture as Culture
  • Summer finally gave us a sneak preview, and when the weather broke, we decided to go for a walk to see some neighborhoods and bask in the nuance that is so effortlessly Detroit, and inherently, Black...

    Saybin Samone Roberson and Catie Goins

    May 25, 2026

    architecture, culture, columns - detroit city

  • FutureCity.LeonieHagen
  • Future City
  • As Detroit is seemingly slowly recovering, looking back at the development of Berlin might help to understand what could be at stake when imagining Detroit’s future; maybe Berlin can serve as a prediction of how Detroit’s urban landscape might develop if the wrong people are in charge. Just like Berlin a couple of decades ago, Detroit has the quite unique opportunity to redefine what kind of urban environment it wants to be.

    Leonie Hagen

    July 5, 2021

    architecture - detroit city

  • WhatTimeIsIt.LeonieHagen
  • What Time Is It? Detroit and the Perception of Time
  • The presence of clocks in public spaces provides a tool for the people while also sort of marking an awareness of the city’s own participation in contemporary society. When being mindful of timekeeping devices in the cityscape of Detroit, there are a handful to be found. Mostly Downtown in the Financial District, some seemingly randomly scattered across the city attached to various kinds of buildings. Some on abandoned mediocre buildings, some on very iconic buildings. Some on banks, some on office buildings, some on shopping malls, some on churches. A few working, most out of order. Some of those still working are set at a wrong time. Nobody seems to care, clocks have vanished from the people’s consciousness...

    Leonie Hagen

    February 1, 2021

    architecture - detroit city

  • TheIllusionOfOccupancy.RileyRinnan
  • The Illusion of Occupancy
  • Due to its sheer size, it is difficult, almost inappropriate, to describe the city of Detroit’s current condition with any one-sided perspective. It has recently been branded as “up and coming” because it has a Shinola Hotel, cocktail bars, and street lights that are turned on (in some locations). What can be misleading though, is the assumption that having a Shinola Hotel, and street lights, is all Detroit needs to turn into a healthy city. This raises questions of - Is that really enough?..

    Riley Rinnan

    January 18, 2021

    architecture - detroit city