Third Place: Open

The skyline of Detroit was once defined by the endless valleys and peaks of the gables of single family homes, punctuated by the occasional midrise of a factory or exhaust tower and its endless trail of vapor fading into the heavens. Today, this skyline has eroded, the once constant gables sparse, the midrise mid-collapse, and the vapors all but evaporated.

Our project introduces a new industry to revitalize Detroit through hyper efficient vertical farming towers. The farming tower, whose verticality harkens to the prosperity of a younger Detroit, creates a new industry on a sustainable foundation which generations can rely. Just as the economic viability of the towers impacts the social fabric of the city, they interpolate the topography of the site, generating spaces in which community vitality can gather and flourish around the new industry of their city.