Once a month we send out a notice to the Green Garage community asking for their help in providing input to one of our businesses. In November we gathered around livingLAB, a landscape architecture and design firm and business-in-residence. As Jason McDonald explained, they design and build anything outside the building envelope. livingLAB had received a RFP (Request for Proposal) from DTE to help design a park space close to the GAR (Grand Army of the Republic) Building on DTE's corporate campus. They are one of 8 firms submitting a proposal. As part of their initial-phase work, livingLAB came to us asking for thematic suggestions for the design of the space. Some of our ideas included:
- multi-generational
- gateway
- multi-use space
- pedestrian and bicycle oriented
- marketplace
- artist showcase
Jason then presented the proposal to our Friday community lunch group, and this more extended community group included suggestions such as:
- Focusing first on transportation (how people are going to get there), as this will help determine function.
- Take a note from Campus Martius' design and use.
- Incorporate food trucks.
- Consider close amenities that people will be crossing the park to access.
- Don't forget the homeless and casino populations that currently cross through the space.
- Might want to host evening activities such as movie screenings.
- Factor in crime and possible accessibility issues.
- Along the same line, one suggestion was to de-fortress the current DTE properties.
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