As part of Parsons’s Civic Design Fellowship, and in conjunction with IDEO and the Knight Foundation, Brick + Beam Detroit aims to make it easier for current and prospective people to rehab their buildings across the city and inclusively across skill levels.
Support for rehab in Detroit is a core element of the project, providing emotional and physical support for users who need help to get (or keep!) going. The project also demonstrates that rehabilitation/preservation is a force for dealing with vacant/abandoned properties in the city of Detroit.
The audience for the project was simple: any existing and prospective residents/property owners across Detroit as well as subcontractors, developers, and people interested in Detroit’s amazing architecture – all skill levels, all building types.
Coalescing in a kick-off event, work for Brick + Beam Detroit also included:
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- Classes: on-Site in buildings currently being rehabbed; peer-to-peer; and expert-led
- Forum for promotion of other classes being held in Detroit (as part of the website)
- Website and organizational materials for outreach and education
- Financial incentives (federal, state, local/private, public)
- List of salvage warehouses/supply stores
- List of trades people who work on older houses
- Historic Resources Directory
- Mapping Stories/Profiles
- Profiles of people and the aspects of their rehab stories that will be useful to others
- Videos/DIY tutorials
- Social Networking event structure; Happy hours
- Fixer Upper Supper Club
- Social Media
- Email newsletter
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Photos from Kick-off Event
Brick + Beam Detroit Team Members:
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- Nancy Finegood, Executive Director | Michigan Historic Preservation Network
- Claire Nowak-Boyd, Executive Director | Preservation Detroit
- Ellen Thackery, Southeast Michigan Field Rep | Michigan Historic Preservation Network/National Trust
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