Flint, Michigan, Re-imagines Itself In An Architecture Competition
A competition seeking ideas for Genesee Towers, a 1968 eyesore, may not be enough to save the structure from demolition.
Like many Rust Belt cities, Flint, Michigan, has seen its share of troubles: a drop in jobs (and population figures), along with a spike in crime. But Flint has something all its own: Genesee Towers, the city's tallest high-rise and eyesore, which has stood vacant for years as a symbol of the industrial town's bygone prosperity. To make matters worse, the city was forced to assume ownership of the property and pass along the expense to cash-strapped taxpayers. Rather than seeking the building's demolition, Flint's AIA chapter held a competition for ways to remake the 1968 structure as the cornerstone of future development.
The first-place entry, by Open Source Integrated Architecture, reimagines Genesee as the Media Tower -- a mixed-use residential/media innovation center aimed at jump-starting the city's idling economic engine. The rooftop and mechanical floor would be transformed into an observation deck and terrace café, while the adjacent parking lot would become a forum for public events, with media projections on the building's façade.
"The winning concept was a great combination of public space and an example of how the building could be reused to promote entrepreneurship and creative industries," Dayne Walling, Flint's mayor and a judge in the competition, told The Architect's Newspaper. That said, he's still partial to razing the building: "The challenge with the Genesee Towers building from a practical standpoint is that it's too large for Flint's current real estate market." Translation of double-speak: It ain't gonna happen.
For more on the winner and two runners-up, check out the slideshow.
[Via Architect's Newspaper]
