How to Use Repurposed Building Artifacts in New Construction

When designing a new construction building it is crucial to balance the creative freedom that the project offers which can also be informed by a client’s budget. If you are interested in the juxtaposition of antiquated artifacts and recently present compositions can be harmonized. Free-flowing abundances of material that come with the benefit of the chance that you can obtain recycled material for free! This project explores how the use of unlimited, repurposed materials can form expansive, free-flowing spaces that serve inter related functions of use.

Hello, my name is Justin Ankus, I am a 5th year architecture student from the suburbs of Chicago. This semester I have focused on creating architecture that responds to the mass abandonment of housing in Detroit. Demolition on a systematic and mass scale of abandoned homes has become a norm for Detroit. Our site in red is adjacent to lots that have already been demolished and can be a potential expanded side lot for the site as it is currently owned by the Detroit Land Bank Authority. The green squares represent recently completed demolitions in the area. Demolition has slowed down from around 10+ houses a day (in 2015) to currently around 5 a day for emergency demolitions only as federal funding no longer exists. These are some of the examples of houses that are scheduled for demolition, taken from google street view I found images from before their windows got boarded up to show the architectural integrity that exists in many of these houses. The costs for demolition is what the City of Detroit awards to private demolition contractors and part of this budget goes to waste disposal. Disrupting this flow of materials to landfills has economic and environmental benefits that my project inherits through its design. Dismantling abandoned homes can be accomplished by dissecting salvageable assemblies and systems with the careful removal of specific materials or items in various degrees to be selected depending on the condition and market desirability. A typical Detroit bungalow has the following quantities of potentially salvageable architectural elements. I am proposing that the dismantled pieces of a home can be brought to the Continental site to be sorted and curated for the public to purchase from the physical location and through online marketplaces.

This zone is dedicated to the dumping, cleaning, and sorting of bricks and other masonry units. Also the assembly of stackable steel cages to be filled with bricks happens here. This would be messy and very active area on the site.

The physical location proposed is a transparent pavilion that is encompassed by salvaged wood, windows, bricks with an unobstructed view of the plaza square and existing factory buildings. The pavilion consists of 3 armatures that each display one of the 3 primary salvaged materials being bricks, window units and wood pieces. There would also be a fleet of vehicles and heavy machinery shown in this sketch. This is just to give the people that are not familiar with the site a refresher of the current site conditions. Existing buildings are highlighted in white. This site plan shows the placement of the pavilion on the site. Planting young cherry blossom trees near the road can spark interest to people driving by as it will contrast with the overgrowth of trees and shrubs that currently line the perimeter of the site, this section of the site would be cleared but in other areas it would be manicured. Drawing from Julie’s conceptual site plan which she designated this area to be a botanical picnic area, I found that cherry blossom trees would be the best species to have here. It is also a tradition in Japan to have picnics under cherry blossom trees. Cherry blossom symbolism reveals its basic nature of new beginnings and revival that can also be applied to the rejuvenation of the salvaged materials on the site. The reclaimed windows armature is the first part that visitors see and experience on the site. The slight curvature mimics existing geometry on the site and creates a deeper virtual depth against lateral wind loads. The slightness of the curve is also intended to express a subtle sense of welcoming. Here is a view of the window armatures that reach out to the parking lot. The horizontal peg elements are designed to slide in or out in order to adjust for the unpredictable window sizes and constantly changing stock. Next to the reclaimed window armature is the reclaimed wood armature that houses doors, hardwood flooring, fireplace mantles and raw lumber framing elements. The wood armature on the left and the window armature on the right.  Lavender was chosen because of its calming aromatic and visual characteristics. They also require well drained dry soil making them suitable to be planted within the gabion wall filled of salvaged bricks. Here you can see the gabion wall with lavender growing within it. The two openings in the gabion walls lead to 4 individual bathrooms. This is a closer view showing more detailed spatial characteristics. The interior of the pavilion is used by 3‐5 employees and also caters to the public and has a cash register. Embracing the growth of plants in the cracks of the concrete is important for this site as it is covered mostly in concrete. This can help with drainage and can create a unique area that can also be a walking path from the parking lot to the plaza for community related events. This area would be designated to preserve the existing flora which is currently inhabited by a few black locust trees. These trees are interesting as some people consider them invasive even though they are native to North America because they have very hardy survival characteristics. They bloom with white flowers and have dark colored bark. This area of the site is slightly lower and is more wet than the rest of the site. The tall grasses that exist there add movement and are still visible during the winter as they just turn yellow. The old power plant would be a suitable space for cataloging and sorting surplus pieces where they can also be evaluated to determine their value. The space is very open compared to the other existing building. The compartmentalized spaces of the motor testing chambers would be suitable to be rented out to collectors or small businesses that have inventory of more sought‐after rare collectible types of architectural artifacts. The showrooms would be a boutique set up and can also have a consignment type of agreement with individuals that would like to sell their own architectural artifacts. A loading zone in the rear can be accessed by the sellers and the entrance to the plaza can be used by general visitors to the site. The garage space is situated for access to store the heavy machinery and utility vehicles witch access on both ends. This is just an overall view of site zones. This is a view from the street showing the relation between the power plant and the pavilion. From this view the power plant looks closer than it actually is. Thanks for listening. This semester I have truly enjoyed exploring and learning about agency in terms of economic sustainability, landscape design, and forming an aesthetic identity that I feel is true to Detroit and the context of this beautiful site that is finding its way back to the present.

Frequency and top words :

salvage building materials