DE-TROIT! (End of Week 3)

Week 3 of the Summer Studio came to a close with a day-trip to the great city of Detroit! Everyone met early at Bridge of Grace and we took off in a charter bus (what!) for the 3 hour drive into the city. 

First stop was the beautiful Detroit Institute of Arts. Unfortunately, we had to cut our trip short to make it to our other stops, but the campers enjoyed a quick walk-through nonetheless.

Second up was Sit On It Detroit, an organization begun by Kyle Bartell and Charles Molnar to build benches for bus stops out of up-cycled materials. Kyle took time out of his day to speak to the students, and had them jump on in, helping remove hinges from old windows, nails from old planks, and sanding finished benches. 

After stopping for lunch, we continued on to Lawrence Tech University, where we met with George Charbeneau, the manager of build lab. We also toured the make lab, and a few classrooms at Lawrence Tech; one of the current grad students there even showed us a few of the projects he and his peers have been working on. The kids were able to be exposed to a true architecture and design classroom setting, as well as ask good questions of faculty and students. 

The rest of the day, we toured downtown Detroit, taking in the ways that the city has integrated sustainable design and architecture to change the landscape and vibe of the city in some pretty powerful ways. Dessert was included, of course, as well as a brief stop by the Detroit Riverway before hopping back on the bus to Fort Wayne. All in all, a good day.