Great opportunity in a future forward building, we are going to be pushing towards a green building. This building is a Albert Kahn design.
My vision for the Cadillac building is a place for creation and innovation. I see a building that stands iconic to Detroit. Worthy of rebuilding, worthy or saving, a beautiful workhorse. There is a reason why Albert Kahn was the resident architect of the city - the buildings he built are beautiful workhorses. I want to honor the history that this building is a part of - and set it up to be able to provide another 85 years of service. The building needs to be Green. - and I mean to an extreme. I would like to take the building off the grid - in every way. Rainwater collection, Electricity Generating, Vegetable Oil Burning.
I would like to build a Continuously Improving Sustainable Program into this building. These visions will not happen overnight. They will occur in phases - and they will require time, effort and money. But they are achievable and they are worthwhile. I would like this building to stand iconic for what is possible here in Detroit.
I always envisioned a communal aspect to this building….where people who are in the rebuilding trades have a membership - a home. When they come back from the field they have a solid safe place where there are resources and enthusiasm and support to greet them. Symbiosis. Synergy. And most of all there will be an Energy that Propels one forward to create, and to rebuild. There will be a tool library. There will be a woodshop. A welding shop. A bar. A kitchen.
I think the roof is the Ace to this Place - we can build anything up here we want. Wind Turbines, Gardens, Greenhouse, Water Reservoirs.
I would like to consider the building an EcoSystem. A living breathing system. A fish farm in the basement - Green Crops on the roof and Honey Bees for sure.
I am in the culinary trades I would like the building to be a part of my plan to produce locally sourced products that will be featured at my restaurants. Honey, Sauces, Chickens, Eggs, Vegetables. I would like there to be a commercial kitchen that can do production there, that can support events at the building and be a resource for the Detroit Food Scene. I see culinary driven events as a huge part of fundraising and awareness of the building. I would like to see a quarterly “Open House” where members/residents/tenants invite their people to come walk through the building, eat some great food, see what other tenants are doing, drink some local beer and listen to some great music.
Energy Projects:
Gasifier Engine - could we actually produce these? then abandon houses would be consumed
Methane Generator
SVO (Straight Veggie Oil) Generator
Rain Collection and Purification System (RCPS)
I have an innate need to save, restore and preserve the history of Detroit as represented by it’s buildings. Since I was a child, I would drive downtown with me Dad through the neighborhoods of Detroit to his business meetings.... from childhood I've wanted to save and preserve these buildings, this history, this community. My grandpa would drive me down Woodward Avenue and show me what neighborhood he lived in and where he rode his bike - and I would watch the beautiful crumbling buildings. He would explain to me how his father and him helped build the Fox Theater and other parts of the city. He was born in Detroit in 1912 - he watched the city be built. I wanted to be a part of the history that built this city and now is rebuilding the city and that's what I am doing. That’s why I am here. It is in my blood.
