Anticipating Detroit : a collection of instruments as a catalyst for recovery

Abstract

The social, political and economic history of Detroit has been inextricably linked to the development of its most dominant industry: automotive manufacturing. This thesis suggests a strategy to overcome the disadvantages of this industrial legacy, drawing from the city's viable contemporary social resources and dynamics in order to incite the informal gathering of individuals together for the performance of music. It is at the scale of the individual and the neighborhood that such a transformative process can occur. In order to combat the slow erasure and abandonment of neighborhoods near Detroit's downtown area, this project seeks to take advantage of the indigenous resources available to it, by using abandoned structures and materials. It acknowledges the primacy of sound and nature on the experience of the site.