Detroit Living Amid Ruins

Public spaces and monuments act as the material representatives of historic memory of traditional cities. There is an international consensus to value, catalog and preservation of these spaces and buildings, both for their heritage, as well as their cultural and historic value. In contrast, certain American urban agglomerations, like Detroit, which has a clear industrial origin, the historic memory of the city is materialized not in its public spaces, which it lacks, but in its productive spaces. Instead of a relatively more normative risk of terrorist attacks to public spaces, these productive spaces risk abandonment, and progressive deterioration. They suffer this fate due to the lack of awareness, both by citizens and institutions, to their importance as carriers of the foundational DNA of these societies. This is leading to their disappearance in the not too distant future.

https://doi.org/10.35483/ACSA.Intl.2018.43

Volume Editors
Ángela García de Paredes, Iñaqui Carnicero & Julio Salcedo-Fernandez

ISBN
978-1-944214-18-0