Detroit Waterfront District Competition, YAC Michigan Design Contest, North America

Detroit Waterfront District Competition News

Oct 9, 2020

YAC Detroit Waterfront District Competition

Location: Detroit, Michigan, USA

YAC (Young Architects Competitions)

Detroit Waterfront District competition project

Young Architects Competitions is an international network of professionals aiming at enhancing architecture research and young designers’ skills. Since 2013 they have been organizing multiple competitions joined by hundreds of designers based in 100 countries.

The contests promoted until today have been supported by several international academic and professional partners with the likes of Automobili Lamborghini, Ferrari, National Geographic, Manni Group.

The competitions gathered prominent jury panels featuring, among the others, Eduardo Souto de Moura, Zaha Hadid Architects, Daniel Libeskind, Crab studio, Aires Mateus, Shigeru Ban Architects, Kazuyo Sejima.

The Detroit Waterfront District competition invites creatives to design Detroit’s new skyline.

There will be a total amount of 20.000 € in prize money for the awarded proposals and the jury of the competition gathers outstanding international personalities like Daniel Libeskind – Studio Libeskind; Giulio Rigoni – Bjarke Ingels Group; Adolfo Suarez – lombardini 22; Elie Torgow – Sterling Group.

Detroit Waterfront District is expected to be a moment of significant international participation for combining extremely interesting and up-to-date topics and a well-esteemed Technical Committee.

This is a story that few people are happy to tell. It is a story that shining downtown skyscrapers hide. However, the deep wounds on the huge body of Detroit prove it happened and still endures: countless battered dwellings, empty streets and abandoned buildings scar the city.

It is difficult to tell how “the arsenal of democracy” – Detroit grew to be known as this in the early 1940s- transformed into the largest modern-day ghost city. Yet, history is full of contrasts. The pendulum of time often changes its direction. Time and again, where a void is created an opportunity arises.

Indeed, over the last years strong winds of change have been whipping the city. They have blown the fog of the past away and dispersed the mist of decay stifling Detroit’s development for decades. As a result, many of the voids of the city – the wounds generated by depopulation and economic crisis- turned into new epicenters of urban regeneration. They became valuable canvas where to paint new masterpieces of contemporary architecture.

Detroit Waterfront District precisely focuses on the most fascinating canvas of all: the urban void overlooking the river amid downtown skyscrapers. Detroit Waterfront District is the competition promoted by Manni Group in collaboration with Sterling Group to design the future leisure and entertainment heart of the city of Detroit.

Architects will deal with the area where stood the Joe Louis Arena beside the place where- according to tradition- Detroit’s founding fathers landed. Participants will have the opportunity to design a building complex to redefine the city skyline. They will generate superb architecture masterpieces to become the symbol of the revival of one of the most iconic and controversial cities of the history of the United States of America.

YAC thanks all the architects who will take part in this challenge.

For further details, please have a look at the links below:

– Official YAC’s website: here

– AC’s Facebook page here

– YAC’s Instagram page here

– The official video of the competition location here

YAC Srl, Via Borgonuovo, 5 – 40125 Bologna – Italy
C.S. Euro 10.000 i.v. | REA di BO n. 523578 | CF e P.IVA 02509200412

Gordie Howe International Bridge images / information from AECOM

Location: Detroit, Michigan, United States of America