Christine Ferretti | Bridge Detroit

A shortage of affordable housing has Detroit exploring whether a 3D-printing robot could help.

A robotics company in southwest Detroit is hoping so and plans to deliver the city’s first factory-printed concrete home to the Islandview neighborhood later this year.

It’s billed as faster, low-cost and nonprofits, state housing and city officials say it’s a practice gaining momentum across the globe to increase move-in ready housing stock in distressed communities. The emerging technology is being explored as one tool to tackle the massive problem but the long-term sustainability and benefits aren’t yet known.

“We believe this is one way to start building better homes, more homes, faster,” said Evelyn Woodman, who co-founded Citizen Robotics in Detroit with her father, Tom Woodman.

The nonprofit launched just over two years ago and has other 3D home building projects planned for Flint and Grosse Pointe Woods. In Detroit, the company intends to build an 850-square-foot, two-bedroom, one-bath house geared toward senior living.

The project, designed by Brian Cook of Develop Architecture, president of the Detroit chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects, is expected to get underway after the company finalizes the purchase of a Detroit Land Bank Authority parcel where it will be built.

Citizen Robotics Executive Director Tom Woodman said his company chose Detroit and Flint for its initial projects because they have vast amounts of land and demand for affordable housing.

“The situation is dire. They are striving for solutions,” he told BridgeDetroit. “In this case, it’s the disruptive technology you want: better, faster, cheaper. But it’s going to take a minute to get there.”

The single-family home planned for Detroit is anticipated to be the first state-funded 3D printed house in Michigan. It’s being financed through the Neighborhood Housing Initiatives Division of the Michigan State Housing Development Authority, said Katie Bach, a spokeswoman for MSHDA.

MSHDA is covering about $150,000 in construction costs for the partnership project between the state, a nonprofit group, the land bank and Citizen Robotics. The home, Bach said, will serve as a “proof of concept project” to help state officials determine if 3D home building is sustainable, cost-effective and energy efficient.

The house will be marketed to low-income buyers at 80% of the area median income, which is $50,240 or less for a two-person household in Detroit. The design and location are being finalized.

“MSHDA is exploring the possibility of encouraging the use of 3D technology to construct infill affordable, move-in ready homes in neighborhoods,” Bach said in an email. “This pilot project is expected to help determine the feasibility of the 3D concept as we explore creative solutions to address Michigan’s housing supply shortages.”

For Citizen Robotics, it will be the first completed home. It will be printed in sections in the company’s warehouse near Michigan Central in Corktown and transported to Islandview for assembly.

Concrete construction is air-tight, noted Woodman, who said he estimates it will reduce energy consumption by about 80% over time. Another benefit of 3D printing, he said, is that the housing design can be adapted to meet the needs of Detroit’s varying communities.

One thing that’s “broken in homebuilding,” he said, is “who gets to decide what gets built and where.

“Community engagement is not an afterthought for us,” Woodman said.

Detroit City Councilman Coleman A. Young II told BridgeDetroit he has a vision of his own for testing out the technology. It calls for 3D construction of multi-family homes in the city’s most impoverished neighborhoods.

“I need to do all I can to be able to make sure within my power that we are able to provide housing for those who need it the most,” said Young, an at-large councilman and the son of the city’s first Black mayor. “I want a pilot program to address the issues with affordable housing in areas that are the hardest hit.”

Young said his plan is in the preliminary stages but it has begun with an analysis from the council’s Legislative Policy Division. He said he’s seeking input from the city’s Housing and Revitalization Department and evaluating how a 3D printer could be acquired and the cost.

Woodman said there are a half-dozen styles of 3D printers that run from $275,000 to $1 million and he hasn’t heard of any municipalities that have purchased one thus far.

Young’s proposal comes as the city, affordable housing advocates and philanthropic partners are evaluating ways to renovate Detroit’s aging houses and bolster home repair programs and equity in mortgage lending.

Last month, Detroit Future City’s Center for Equity, Engagement and Research released a study that found lending has improved in Detroit over the past decade but many areas see few, if any, mortgage loans each year. Credit challenges, unfavorable debt-to-income ratios and bias in property appraisals are among the issues that put Black buyers even further behind.

“We have issues with diversity, equity and exclusion in terms of the issue of single-family housing and zoning. I want to open that up and make it affordable for people in the city of Detroit who are hurting the most,” said Young, adding he’d like a pilot to be targeted for “extremely low-income” residents at about 30% of the area median income – or $18,840 or less for a two-person household.

Last summer, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer joined with Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and Citizen Robotics at the nonprofit’s warehouse to announce the state’s plan to invest $100 million in federal COVID-19 relief funding toward the construction of thousands of affordable homes statewide.

Young said it’s too early to know whether his vision will coincide with Duggan’s administration.

Julie Schneider, who heads the city’s Housing and Revitalization Department, said 3D home building is relatively new but the administration is “open to learning more.”

“The City’s policy has been investing our resources into quality housing that will stand the test of time and provide quality affordable housing for decades to come,” Schneider said in a statement “Homes printed using 3D technology may very well prove to be more durable than the materials used today, but we don’t know the full picture yet, as this is still a new technology and industry. That said, it is something that we are certainly open to learning more about and would consider if 3D-printed homes are indeed a worthy investment of housing dollars.”

‘Build what people want’
A University of Michigan study last fall estimated families in nearly 38,000 Detroit households lived in inadequate housing with major issues including exposed wires or electrical problems, broken furnaces or heating problems, or lack of hot or running water.

Woodman said the 3D technology can’t be used for repairs on the city’s existing wood-built homes – apart from a new concrete front stoop – but 3D shouldn’t be discounted because of it.

“The fact that it can’t do much toward rehabbing other old houses, I sort of say ‘so what.’ Somebody has got to focus on scattered site infill,” he said. “Nobody does it because it’s the hardest thing to do, but it’s necessary to create walkable, 15-minute neighborhoods.”

The land bank has control of the majority of the city’s vacant parcels. It has an inventory of more than 76,000 properties and most – close to 63,000 – are vacant lots.

“If we have land as an asset, it’s only an asset if you build on it,” Woodman said. “Let’s build what people want.”

Young said his intention is to start small and would begin with pinpointing equipment costs. Work also must be done, he said, to determine what material would be used, its longevity and where the houses would go, although he noted areas throughout Detroit are primed for it.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development doesn’t have an opinion on building materials so there’s been no federal guidance on the matter that Detroit officials are aware of.

“I felt this could be an opportunity if done right,” said Young, but he stressed “I’m not saying we will solve all of the city’s housing problems with this technology. It’s not going to be a panacea and silver bullet.”

‘Can we adopt it?’
In recent years, groups in Detroit have experimented with the trends of tiny homes and shipping container homes and buildings. Woodman said he doesn’t see 3D-printed housing as a fad.

“We’ve got precedent to draw on. We’re not inventing this method,” he said. “We’re tweaking it out for our purposes.”

The first full 3D printed home in the country was unveiled at Austin’s South by Southwest conference in 2018. The 650-square-foot concrete home was printed onsite, and cost approximately $10,000 to build, according to the LPD report.

Since then, a 3D project has been underway in southern Mexico to bring 50 homes to a poverty-stricken neighborhood that is prone to earthquakes and flooding.

Habitat for Humanity has partnered on several 3D-printed home projects, including one built last fall in Williamsburg, Virginia. Habitat Detroit and other Habitat affiliates are quietly conducting a similar analysis, said Stephanie Osterland, CEO of Habitat for Humanity Detroit.

“Right now, we’re heavily into the feasibility stage. What is the cost effectiveness of doing it? Do homebuyers want this type of construction? How hard is it to do and how quickly can we adopt it?,” she said. “It’s worth the time and the diligence to evaluate whether or not it can be a solution.”

Citizen Robotics initially targeted Detroit’s Woodbridge community for the 3D home pilot, but changed course due to costs associated with preparing the site owned by Woodbridge Neighborhood Development.

In recent years, Woodbridge has conducted workshops, community meetings and surveys to develop guidelines for infill housing in the 2,383-household neighborhood and to provide guidance for future developers.

Christine Holmes, the community improvement organization’s director of policy and property development, said residents are interested in single-family housing as well as preserving the historic character of the housing stock.

The 3D project, which would have constructed a small, single-story home, was welcomed by neighbors, particularly for the benefit of longtimers who might need to downsize, she said.

“This would be a way to make something that is more accessible to a senior or somebody who might have mobility problems,” said Holmes, noting the group remains open to the technology.

“A smaller footprint in general in housing is becoming more desirable,” she said. “It provides options for people. The fact that it would be 3D-printed doesn’t change that option.”

The conventional cost to build an average sized three-bedroom house is between $250,000 to $320,000. Building the same home with 3D printing technology would cost from 20% to 40% less – or between $140,000 to $240,000, the LPD analysis notes.

“The biggest roadblock, arguably, is government regulations regarding what can or cannot be allowed as a means of construction,” LPD’s report reads. “Government regulations and construction permits vary wildly across the globe. But one thing they all have in common is the reluctance of public bodies to allow cutting-edge technology to be used by the general population at such an early stage.”

Osterland said for Habitat, it’s critical to explore 3D and steel frame housing as construction costs remain high and climbed another 20% last year.

“That means for every four projects we do, that’s a whole other project we couldn’t do,” she said.

As costs go up, the more Habitat has to rely on philanthropic partners to cover gaps caused by property appraisal disparities. The demand is great for single-family homes and Habitat gets about 125 online intake forms per month from those interested in home ownership, she said.

“We’re not even close to meeting that demand. There are people in need of safe and affordable housing like no other,” Osterland said. “Detroit is accepting of innovation. Whether it catches on and if it makes sense to do at a mass scale, that’s still to be determined.”

Read the original article here.

March 30, 2022 – Grapevine, TX – AUCH Construction, Pontiac, has been awarded 2nd place in the 2022 Construction Safety Excellence Award (CSEA) program sponsored by Willis Towers Watson. The honor was granted by the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) at their annual convention. AUCH’s written submission of their safety program was selected in the construction manager category among entries from across the nation. Finalists gave an oral presentation before a panel of independent judges for final placement.

AUCH’s presentation highlighted its long-standing tradition of carrying on its founder’s philosophy of a family-based organization that focuses on each person, and shares best safety practices across company lines. The award was made possible through the company’s commitment to live its core values and with AUCH’s field leaders’ dedication to ensure the safety of all project partners.

AUCH was founded in 1908 and is located in Pontiac. For 114 years the company has provided planning, preconstruction, and construction phase services in southeast Michigan in educational, healthcare, municipal, and commercial sectors. AUCH’s focus has always been on client satisfaction and safety. In the last 10 years, their commitment to corporate safety culture was also recognized with awards at the AGC National Convention in 2013, 2016, and 2019.

The purpose of the AGC-CSEA is to acknowledge construction companies who excel at safety performance. Each candidate’s commitment to safety and occupational health management and risk control is carefully examined. Unlike other safety award programs that limit the criteria to statistical data, the CSEA selection process is considerably more comprehensive. Each application is reviewed for evidence of company management commitment, active employee participation, safety training, work site hazard identification and control, and safety program innovation.

For more information on AUCH Construction, visit www.auchconstruction.com.

Hani Barghouthi | The Detroit News

Detroit — Officials broke ground Wednesday on a nearly mile-long extension of the Detroit Riverfront to connect it to residential neighborhoods and Michigan Central.

The $8 million Southwest Greenway will connect the riverfront and planned Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Centennial Park with the rail station and neighborhoods throughout southwest Detroit, Mexicantown and Corktown, the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy announced in a press release.

“The Southwest Greenway will make it easy and fun for people living and working on the west side of Detroit to get to the Detroit Riverfront,” said Matt Cullen, chairman of the nonprofit, adding that the greenway would offer a similar experience for park-goers to the Dequindre Cut.

Spanning from Bagley to Jefferson Avenue, the greenway will improve community access to public spaces in the city and is expected to be completed in the fall, according to the conservancy.

It will be “a key part” of the Joe Louis Greenway, a 27.5-mile greenway in Detroit, both of which are a part of 160 miles of greenways in southeast Michigan.

“I am excited to see that we have been intentional as a city of departments to include our neighborhoods in all of our outreach and all of our engagement when it comes to quality park space and quality opportunities in this city,” said Antoine Bryant, director of the Planning & Development Department for the City of Detroit, at the ceremony for the groundbreaking.

Michigan Central announced Wednesday a $5 million commitment for the greenway, which will be completed in partnership with the City of Detroit, the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund, the Michigan Department of Transportation and the Walters Family Foundation.

“Not only is it going to be this wonderful, walkable, safe, beautiful amenity for the neighborhoods, but it is that connector,” said Mary Culler, chair of Michigan Central. “It actually has that opportunity to be a destination place to think about the future of mobility.”

It will be critical for everyone to have access to the greenway, Culler added, including people who don’t have the ability to walk or ride a bike.

The Conservancy will break ground on the connected Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Centennial Park, a 22-acre endeavor on the West Riverfront, on May 10, with the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation having committed $50 million toward the project in 2018.

Read the original article here.

Josh Niland | Archinect

David Adjaye has been given a TIME100 Impact Award, and HOK has made the magazine’s list of the 100 most influential companies as part of the annual designation released this week. The two are the sole representatives of the architectural industry on a pair of lists that includes multiple online retailers, tech company leaders, houses of finance, and engineering concerns.

TIME singled out HOK’s design for the new Terminal B at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, saying it now constitutes “the gold standard for airport design moving forward.”

The magazine also selected Adjaye as one of its 2022 Impact Award recipients for his innovative work across multiple typologies.

Speaking at a ceremony at Dubai’s newly-opened Museum of the Future, the Ghanaian-British architect said: “You are shaped by the world around you. It’s not just enough to build […] it’s important to imbue the future we make with the past, and to imbue the future we make with the memories of our ancestors, the teachings of our ancestors.”

Landscape designer Kotchakorn Voraakhom presented Adjaye with the award in a ceremony that also featured remarks from the six other Impact Award winners, including environmentalist-singer Ellie Goulding and astrophysicist Sarah Al Amiri.

“Diversity is the clue to our common humanity and our common future,” Adjaye added, foreshadowing his Abrahamic Family House, which opens in Abu Dhabi later this year. “I use architecture as a tool to illuminate and bring that knowledge of our common humanities into the future.”

Adjaye and HOK both join luminaries such as Kengo Kuma, Jeanne Gang, Wang Shu, and Bjarke Ingels as varying types of TIME honorees. Adjaye had previously been named to TIME’s ‘100 Most Influential People’ in 2017.

Read the original article here.

Christine Ferretti | Bridge Detroit

The state is advancing plans to replace the outdated Interstate 375 freeway in Detroit with an “urban boulevard” to attract new development and make adjacent areas more accessible, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Wednesday.

The design phase will begin this spring and follows a review by the Michigan Department of Transportation that found there was no significant environmental impact for the project at the site that decimated prominent Black neighborhoods when it was built in the early 1960s.

The Democratic governor, who took office in 2019, noted her administration’s investment of $4.75 billion in fixing up 13,000 miles of roadway and 900 bridges. As the work continues, she said, “We must take a closer look at the unjust legacy of so many of our freeways.”

“This includes I-375, which paved through two prosperous Black neighborhoods decades ago, displacing 130,000 people, hundreds of small businesses, churches, and more,” Whitmer said in a statement. “Now, we must build up our state’s infrastructure with equity at the core.

“While we cannot change the past, we must work harder to build a more just future, and that starts with listening to and engaging with the community, and taking deliberate steps to get this done right,” Whitmer said. 

I-375 was built more than 50 years ago. During construction, the prominent Black neighborhoods of Black Bottom and Paradise Valley were demolished to make way for the four-lane sunken freeway. 

Constructed through a thriving Hasting Street, I-375 opened in 1964 and created a barrier between the central business district in Detroit and the neighborhoods to the east. It resulted in decades of underinvestment and a lack of opportunity for the predominantly Black communities on the other side of the freeway.

“As development has pushed east from downtown and west from Lafayette Park, the barrier that I-375 represents in our city has become even more apparent,” Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said. “Removing the freeway ditch and replacing it with a street-level boulevard will unlock enormous development opportunities.”

The equity of who participates in the development opportunities from the upcoming project, Duggan said, “will be just as important as how the new boulevard ultimately will look.”

The milestone in the project comes after years of working through issues and concerns from community members, noted MDOT Director Paul C. Ajegba.

State Sen. Stephanie Chang, D-Detroit, said she is hopeful that the community engagement process associated with the project will uplift the needs and desires of the community. The Lafayette Park resident said part of the focus should be on connectivity, sustainability, and green space, not commercial or residential development that is “out of reach financially” for many Detroiters.  

Extensive research began in 2014 to identify alternatives for the corridor including cost-effective transportation. The final design will be drafted with input from a community advisory committee.

The street-level boulevard is proposed to begin south of the I-75 interchange and continue to the Detroit River and provide connections to the riverfront, Eastern Market and Brush Park as well as create a new local connector street from Eastern Market to Gratiot Avenue.

Read the original article here.

The AIA has announced the elevation of 88 members and two international architects to the College of Fellows, including AIA Detroit’s own Dorian Moore, FAIA of Archive DS, and Jeff Hausman, FAIA of SmithGroup. This is an incredible achievement, as only 3% of the membership are given this distinction.

The award is reserved for architects who have made significant contributions to the profession and society and who exemplify architectural excellence. Both Dorian and Jeff have dedicated their careers to bettering the profession of architecture.

Dorian Moore, FAIA, CNU, Vice President of Archive Design Studio, is an urban designer, architect, entrepreneur, educator, and developer whose commitment to city building extends into civic leadership. With a strong commitment to redeveloping and enhancing existing urban areas, particularly where physical as well as economic challenges exist, he advocates for a strategic approach to revitalizing cities, based on precedent research and sustainable practices aimed at the long-term viability of neighborhoods, districts, corridors, and downtowns. 

Jeffrey J. Hausman, FAIA, LEED AP, is Senior Vice President and Director of the Detroit & Pittsburgh Offices for SmithGroup, Inc., the 6th largest integrated architecture, engineering, and planning firm in the nation. He is also responsible for winning and leading the design of facilities that embody design excellence, innovation, sustainability, and responsiveness to the needs of nationally-recognized organizations. Jeff is a constant champion of the architectural profession.  He inspires young people to explore careers in architecture through his work with educational programs at his firm, for the Michigan Architectural Foundation, and with the Boy Scouts of America (BSA).

We know that both Jeff and Dorian will be transformative additions to the AIA’s College of Fellows.

Stacey Freed | Fodor’s Travel

Black architects have been designing architectural structures and making their mark on the international landscape since the late 1800s, despite historical barriers. Paul Revere Williams was the first Black member of the American Institute of Architects. He opened his practice in the early 1920s and built nearly 3,000 glamorous Southern California residential and commercial structures for almost 60 years. Norma Merrick Sklarek, the first licensed African American female architect, designed major projects such as the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo and the Mall of America in Minneapolis.

Today, there are 2,434 licensed Black architects in the United States, less than 2% of the total number of licensed architects. Though small in number, they are responsible for myriad commercial, residential, academic, and government buildings, health care facilities, memorials, and parks large and small around the world. Black architects bring new visions and voices to the way humans perceive and interact with our built environments.

“We’re at a moment when process is almost as important or possibly more important than the product,” says Steven Lewis, principal at ZGF Architects. With today’s Black architects, “there’s an inclusionary process of gathering input and ideas; they’re seeking a sense of having been heard, seen, and acknowledged and offering an ease and comfort in occupying the spaces they create. Pre-George Floyd, these issues weren’t as urgent as they’ve become. There’s an awakening, curiosity, and interest now throughout the profession. With this new visibility of culture and issues, colleagues are excited to include that in the process of ideation.”

Read the entire list here.

Sarah Steimer & Photographs by Sal Rodriguez | HOUR Detroit

“I was sitting somewhere yesterday looking at a workstation — at all of the cables that connect from the PC, the monitor, the keyboard, everything else — and it was a kind of a spaghetti-looking mess,” says Rainy Hamilton Jr. “As architects, we like to take those puzzle pieces, that spaghetti, and try to bring some order to it. And we’re doing that in a context.”

Hamilton and his firm, Hamilton Anderson Associates, are puzzling together pieces of Detroit’s past and future to either birth or revitalize buildings across the city. He says history and context always fuel the first step of the design process in architecture: You look at the fabric of what’s already there — be it an existing building or a vacant piece of property — and ground it in what is needed today.

Hamilton’s own past clearly influenced where he is today — and where he hopes to be in the future. A native Detroiter, he found his calling early and stayed on that path, excelling at art, science, and model-building at a young age. But the context that kept him in Detroit was mutual support between him and the city.

Hamilton initially remained local in an effort to stay close to his mother after his parents divorced. He attended University of Detroit Mercy and was drafted into work at a firm with two of his professors. Hamilton then moved to SmithGroup, where he spent three years before striking out on his own — and even then, his former boss at SmithGroup offered him a safety net: He was told he would be welcome back if his independent work didn’t pan out.

Of course, Hamilton was successful. Now, 28 years later, Hamilton Anderson handles some of the highest-profile architecture and design projects in Detroit including The Hamilton Midtown Detroit, winner of a 2021 Detroit American Institute of Architects Award for Historic Rehabilitation. The organization’s jury for the award said, “The Hamilton perfectly exemplifies the dynamic future of Detroit while simultaneously acknowledging and preserving this piece of its glorious past.”

Hamilton says his team combined new features and amenities with some of the classic ornamentation of the building — such as the marble stairway and terrazzo floors — letting “history speak” in a way that creates a rich environment for the tenants.

This is the more obvious way The Hamilton Midtown (not named for him) combines the past with the present. The arguably more impactful way is that it helped to relocate its previous tenants and offered them a spot in the updated building — at the rent they were originally paying, plus a slight percentage increase and only allowing for small incremental rent increases going forward.

“That kind of effort just excites me, especially in the era of George Floyd and all of the injustice that we see across the country,” Hamilton says. “These projects are important to our mission. I use this corny expression, and I’m sure my staff is tired of hearing me say it, but as a native Detroiter, to be able to rebuild Detroit one home, one block, one neighborhood at a time is exactly why Hamilton Anderson is here and exactly why we’re headquartered here.”

Read the original article here.

Hannah Feniak | Architizer

Black History Month is a time to reflect upon the past and reckon with the long history of racism and inequality that has disenfranchised Black Americans to this day. It is also a time to acknowledge the contributions and celebrate the achievements of generations of Black communities across all areas of society. A history that should not be limited to a single month, we recognize the urgency of listening to and amplifying Black voices all year round.

The under-representation of Black architects and designers continues to mar the architectural profession. Today, Black people make up 14% of the United States’ population; yet, less than 2% of the approximately 113,000 architects licensed in our country are Black. In addition to increasing diversity within the profession, the industry must confront the need to design more equitable spaces and cities and incorporate communities of color into these design processes. As Kweku Addo-Atuah beautifully states, “It takes the collective populace to imagine and shape the built environment, and for it to be truly reflective and responsive to society, inclusiveness must be at the forefront of collaboration.”

Previously, we have sought to posthumously recognize the work of 10 Black Architects Whose Work has Shaped America. By acknowledging these figures from the past whose legacies continue to impact our present, we hoped to contribute to a joint roadmap for building a more equitable future. This year, we highlight contemporary Black architects whose impactful work is forging history in the field today. Including A+Awards jury members, established practitioners and up-and-coming talents, the following architects have not only been singled out for their distinguished designs, but also for their leadership roles in advocating for a more diverse architecture industry and equitable built environment.

Read the entire list here.

Sara Smart | CNN