Hayward

I have made progress: Assembling this thing was hell. The pieces were almost too small to pick up. Since the scale is 1' = 1/32," the height of the buildings were just barely over 2 inches. As for the architecture of this thing, don't hate. I'm not calling this my best work so far since there are other directions I would have liked to have taken. But it seems to make my studio professor happy, and I haven't received too much criticism, other than a few minor modifications. I'll post a few computer renderings later (which I'm not very good at)

How about you alls destroy Toledo.

That's how we do. The lazy cutters do the work for us, then we assemble. But a lot of people still cut their models out by hand. It looks way more impressive when you can make precision cuts. Parts of this model have thicknesses that are 1/128 of an inch. It's practically carbon.

No no no! That's simply too close to the street. Back. Further back. Keep going. That's right: all the way back to 1958. Perfecto! OUTDATED Called out.

....assemble his architecture project for school? :mrgreen: The pieces are all lasercut wood, and they are really hard to pick up. I can't imagine gluing them together. The siting for this project is a housing development in Toledo. I'll tell you what. I'll do the bad part of the project which is to make a model of Toledo, and one of you can volunteer for the good part, which is the building itself. I'll document my progress in pictures

Beautiful houses. I always laughed at how some of my Detroit friends try to up their status by saying they are from Boston-Edison when they are really from the hoods nearby. I heard about some renovations of apt buildings starting up on Chicago Ave. Did you happen to see anything?

Great pics!

There's automated garage in downtown Detroit that is pretty nice. It occupies a very narrow footprint, and the exterior is made to look like an actual building (with windows) since you don't have to worry about too much exhaust, other than from the machinery itself.

Pizzapapalis is the best IMO, even though the prices are outrageously high. I'm willing to make the sacrifices for a $40 pie, and it seems many Detroiters are willing to as well.

Thanks for ruining my morning, that was frightening. ColDayMan, how did your voice get so high?

Agreed.

I don't think I'll ever understand this building. I remember seeing some closeup renderings, that I'd like to see posted here. I just don't know where to find them.

That and they tore down two integral pieces of Detroit history, one being the Motown Records Buildings. The Albert Kahn designed landmark was leveled for a couple extra parking spots while valuable signed documents of motown artists flew from the windows and scattered across I-75. The Madison Lenox Hotel had a similar fate. It was one of the oldest buildings in the city, and also a PROTECTED historic structure.

You're half right. The box of treats was actually stolen.......leftover from the grand opening of a new university building. It said "FREE" on the box! Oh and it's full of: As for the beer and ramen. Well, that's all up the studio. Enough to make me go into cardiac arrest by the time I'm 25. Lil Romeo says "Stay in school!!"

Yes, but this is Detroit we are talking about.

Woodbridge is actually a fairly well preserved neighborhood, with little or no abandonment on some streets. Most of the abandonment is on the outer edges. I don't want to be critical, really Zach did a great job capturing the full spectrum of the neighborhood, but there's a ton more to be photographed of this neighborhood that displays some excellent architecture.

Great pics Zach. But hmmmmm. I haven't been through Woodbridge in 2 years, but it seemed to look a hell of a lot nicer. Maybe you just didn't capture it all, or something went wrong in the hood!

I see the crane of death ready to level the People's Outfitting building.

Here's me! sort of..... I forgot to lock my apartment door, and my housemate took a picture of me studying hard. When you are an architecture student, sleep is unpredictable. I woke up right after it was taken and was pretty pissed, but I have to admit it's a good picture of college life.

Excellent photos of some excellent architecture.

No I promise you I will never take pictures of the "skyline" from hospital parking garages. Promise. We don't have towers named Boji either. I forgot to mention that nearly 75% of Saginaw's downtown was demolished for urban renewal projects. What came in its place was new state and federal buildings, an arena and large auditorium, along with a shopping mall, and a new hotel. Other blocks that were entirely leveled were for office buildings that never came. Today, the state office building is half empty, the federal building was demolished, the mall is abandoned, but the hotel, arena, and auditorium are doing very well and have done expansions. But the other projects which leveled blocks of businesses are gone. The building where I worked this summer used to be in the middle of it all surrounded by a couple of nice 7 and 10 stories buildings in the heart of the shopping district. They are gone and now it's the only building left standing on the block. Across the street are a few scattered buildings that managed to remain Here's a shot from the roof of where I worked. I remember my parents taking me into this large ten floor furniture store where that green grass triangle is. The store still exists, but in the suburbs in huge 1 level warehouse type structure. :-( And from the ground. Besides the Citizens Bank building, I felt like we were the only building downtown that was 100% occupied. Across the street is the historical museum and the old Police Station which is being turned into lofts and retail. The good thing is Saginaw's museums and schools are doing well, which helps make the problems with the city a lot less complex. A shot just outside the downtown It all seems very depressing, but major steps have been taken to improve the city. The city's biomedical sector has grown significantly, and new hi-tech industry is moving in. The loss of automotive jobs has slowed despite increases elsewhere, and the population isn't dropping as quickly as it used to (although the metro is growing). If only the issues with violent crime, drugs, gangs, etc can be addressed can Saginaw improve.

Here's a small sort of urban grit tour of Saginaw, Michigan. For those who don't know, Saginaw is located about 100 miles north of Detroit. It has a population of 60,000, (400,000 metro) which has declined significantly from the 100,000 people in the 1960's. The losses are attributed to the movement of automotive and manufacturing jobs overseas and elevated crime rates within the inner city. Currently, Saginaw has the highest violent crime rate in the State of Michigan (measured/1000 people) far surpassing Detroit. This has made an urban renaissance in Saginaw difficult, but there are visible signs of improvement occuring across the city. Saginaw originally used to be two seperate cities, seperated by a river. Because of this merger, Saginaw has two downtowns, one on the East side, and one on the West. The differences on each side of the river are noticeable. While west side neighborhoods and business districts remain vibrant and stable, East side neighborhoods are plagued by gang violence, poverty, and blocks of abandoned houses. Currently, private and public organizations are working to improve conditions in East Saginaw from building new homes, to sponsoring after school programs for teens. In recent years, the west side has experienced a spike in violent crime. We eventually moved out of the inner city, but I still have faith in Saginaw, and I believe that there is the ability for great change. Before I start the tour, here are some demographics. Official City Population 61,799 (2000 census) Racial Makeup: 47% white, 43% African American, 12% Hispanic, 5.86% Other races (source: wikipedia) I copied this photo tour from a thread I posted elsewhere over a year ago on a Mid Michigan forum, so excuse me if I get too precise on some captions. On with the photo tour! Downtown! EAST SIDE This is Saginaw's train depot. It's located on the Northeast side, probably one of the worst parts of the city. It's a neighborhood that was destroyed by the freeway construction, industrial pollution, and unemployment. It's an area most Saginaw residents will tell you to never be. I'm not sure when the train station closed. It was torched by arson not long ago, but the city (when it had money) rebuilt portions of the inside and put a roof on. They've been holding on to it, but there is no for sale sign. I'm wondering if maybe there will be some grand plan for this area. Here's a pano. This was actually the last pic I took of the station, because I heard a gunshot close by and decided to get the hell out! :blink: I decided to cross back beneath I-675 and look for some interesting stuff over near the Genesee corridor. There's a lot of abandonment, but some houses like this could still be saved. Warehouse with missing floors I don't remember what used to be on this corner. I have a wild guess Montgomery Wards used to be here, since I had heard there was one downtown a long time ago. There was also a Jacobsons which remained faithful to its downtown location before the chain went dead. It had really helped bring people downtown, and was actually quite succesful despite all of its suburban competition. I like the arches on this building. Can't forget the arches on the Citizens Bank Building WEST SIDE - HAMILTON SQUARE I crossed the river onto the West side where we find this forgotten doorway beneath the Court Street Bridge. These style of windows exist everywhere around this part of town. The court street bridge was rebuilt upon the piers and support structure of the old bridge. Gotta love the brick streets. The 303 Adams Warehouse is now owned by a company that manufactures tile and other flooring. Hopefully they'll remove the "Available Space" sign which still has the old 517 area code on it. How about publishing a new sign? Warehouses and night clubs along Niagara St. I'm suprised this building is actually occupied. All 4 sides looks like this, I'd hate to work there. So that concludes the urban grit portion of this photo thread. Hopefully you didn't get the wrong impression of the city. There are a lot of really nice parts of Saginaw, and some amazing architecture. Anyway, it's time to get to something more positive, RENOVATIONS! There will also be a few misc. pics thrown in. Quite the contrast from the original. This building is the third oldest in Saginaw. A new upscale seafood restaurant will be on the first floor with lofts on the second and third levels. The building behind it is also being renovated. The finishing touches are put on the last building to receive a facade repair and repainting on Court Street. Some renovated Hamilton Street businesses. Lofts and apartments are on the top floor. This area gets quite busy on weekends. There's a bunch of bars, cafes, restaurants, unique shops, a theater, and night clubs nearby. This restaurant and hotel reopened a few weeks ago after the entire building was renovated. Gotta put that two car garage somewhere. This block has a sad story. Throughout the last decade it experienced two major fires. One brought down the historic 7 story Saginaw Hotel. When the building collapsed, it fell onto a neighboring building engulfing it in flames. Years later, an apartment fire on the third floor of another building on that block spread through the attic into neighboring buildings next door. Only three original structures survive. The building on the far left is brand new, and has a nice design actually. A 4-5 story office building is slated to go up next door. You can still see a chunk of the facade of the building that once existed next door above the Jimmy John's section. Ahh, the Samari, or once was the Samari. The restaurant went out of business and the building is being renovated to apartments on the second floor with retail or restaurant space on the ground floor. And I hope it gets painted differently. This building used to be abandoned, but someone moved in. The boards were removed, new windows were installed, and all the lights are on. There's also alot of construction work going on inside. Now I'll switch back to the East Side where we find these two renovated buildings on Janes. There will be retail on the ground floor and lofts on the second. Now for two random images Side of the Saginaw Waterworks. Hate to brag, but we got the best damn sewage plant in Michigan :thumbsup: Sometime I should go pay the waterbill in person there. I've actually never been inside. The Zilwaukee Bridge carries I-75 over the Saginaw River. It rises 125 feet and covers a distance of 1.3 miles. Defects in construction have caused a series of closures since its opening in the late 80's, but it still serves its purpose well. THE END

Yes, unfortunately, I drain hours of my life away working in the studio. I'm surprised I have that many projects done considering we socialize with each other more than getting work done.

It's not that I don't like the Bean. I think it's interesting and it does bring a crowd towards artistic expression. The problem is that almost everybody and their momma "has" to take the shot of a gigantic metallic jellybean (myself included) as part of their experience to Chicago now. Screw the Board & Trade Building! WE GOT OURSELVES SOME FOUNTAINS WITH WATER SPITTIN' OUT LITTLE GIRLS FROM NAPERVILLE! Haha, I love Naperville's nice little downtown. I see what you are saying about the bean though. Everytime I go to Chicago with friends they want pictures in front of it, and they almost never come out all that great.

There's some really nice views here that I didn't see when I was in Columbus. ColDayMan...