The House that Makes Sense
Heidelberg Project Community Arts Center
Heidelberg Project Community Arts Center
The House That Makes Sense wasdesigned to display parallel concepts in the construction of sustainable buildingand the building of sustainable communities. Serving as a flagship arts centerfor the Heidelberg Cultural Village, its flexible layout encourages creativityby allowing both indoor and outdoor spaces to be reconfigured to supportdiverse artistic strategies and spatial requirements needed for a wide range ofexhibits and installations. Using simple but powerful sustainable techniquessuch as natural ventilation, passive solar, and reused materials is intended tocreate a smart building without relying on expensive technologies. Simple, butlabor-intensive construction techniques, allow community members to be trainedand employed in its construction and take ownership in its creation.
Tyree Guyton has been a leader in the Detroit grassroots artmovement that use the potential energy of abandoned items to bring life backinto a city that many considered to be dead. The House That Makes Sense pays tributeto this by gathering discarded objects and compacting them into buildingblocks, stacked to create structural walls. These simultaneously become art andfunctioning weather and sound barriers to the classrooms, offices, andgalleries. Car windshields salvaged from junkyards are to serve as a sweepingglass façade that allows artwork to be displayed to passersby. Sliding wallsthat can be opened up allow indoor spaces to extend outward adding to theflexible use of the building and the circular illuminated gallery is meant toserve as a beacon for the Cultural Village.
Through careful, thoughtful, anddetailed design, the building both integrates with and becomes a piece of artunique to Heidelberg. It is not meant to overpower or to replace the existingwork on Heidelberg Street, but instead draws inspiration from it, in aconscious collaboration intended to showcase Tyree Guyton’s original aestheticin a more permanent medium. It ismeant as a beacon for the Cultural Village, the McDougal-Hunt neighborhood andthe city of Detroit -- a symbol of hope and new beginnings.
Tyree Guyton has been a leader in the Detroit grassroots artmovement that use the potential energy of abandoned items to bring life backinto a city that many considered to be dead. The House That Makes Sense pays tributeto this by gathering discarded objects and compacting them into buildingblocks, stacked to create structural walls. These simultaneously become art andfunctioning weather and sound barriers to the classrooms, offices, andgalleries. Car windshields salvaged from junkyards are to serve as a sweepingglass façade that allows artwork to be displayed to passersby. Sliding wallsthat can be opened up allow indoor spaces to extend outward adding to theflexible use of the building and the circular illuminated gallery is meant toserve as a beacon for the Cultural Village.
Through careful, thoughtful, anddetailed design, the building both integrates with and becomes a piece of artunique to Heidelberg. It is not meant to overpower or to replace the existingwork on Heidelberg Street, but instead draws inspiration from it, in aconscious collaboration intended to showcase Tyree Guyton’s original aestheticin a more permanent medium. It ismeant as a beacon for the Cultural Village, the McDougal-Hunt neighborhood andthe city of Detroit -- a symbol of hope and new beginnings.
