Tour Day is devoted to the appreciation of modern architecture in the United States. Events focus on architecture + design of the Modern Movement, and are hosted by Docomomo chapters, partners, + leading voices in preservation. It’s the only national program of its kind. Each year has a different theme and the tour takes place in October.
Docomomo MI Tour Day 2023
Bus Tour | Saturday, October 14, 1-4pm
Image at left: Aerial View of Detroit showing Lafayette Park and the Detroit Skyline, circa 1960s.
Image at right: John Lee Hooker in front of Joe's Record Shop on Hasting Street, Detroit,1959.
Photographer: Jacques Demeter. Image from Detroit News article "Visit Detroit's Historic Black
Bottom in these historical pictures."
Accessed at: https://www.detroitnews.com.
Renewal or Removal? Revisiting Mid-Century Urbanism in Detroit was the topic of our Tour Day program on October 14, 2023. Thirty-four people joined us for a bus tour in the city, led by Jamon Jordan, Detroit’s historian, well-regarded educator, and founder of Black Scroll Network History and Tours. Despite the rain, his engaging style and depth of knowledge about the history of the city made for an enjoyable and enlightening afternoon.
Jamon explored how urban renewal changed the buildings, landscapes and people of Detroit, with a specific focus on the Lafayette Park and Medical Center projects. And he educated us on how these developments were built on two once-thriving Black neighborhoods, Black Bottom and Paradise Valley.
The tour began at the heart of lack Bottom in Lafayette Park, designated a National Historic Landmark in 2015 as an exemplar of post World Warr II urban planning and as the largest collection of buildings designed by Ludwig Mies van de Rohe. We then headed east and north to explore the lesser-known impacts of urban renewal in the stadium and Medical Center areas. We stopped at several Modernist churches built as a result of urban renewal, including Calvary Baptist, designed by Gunnar Birkerts. Throughout the afternoon, Jamon pointed out traces of Black Bottom and Paradise Valley that escaped the wrecking balls and was adept at helping us envision life pre-renewal.
The tour was organized and underwritten in part by Docomomo US/Michigan and was open to members, the general public and students.
