By Rachel Pincus, Source: PFSK

Cities in decline often produce a wealth of salvageable material from the rubble of their crumbling buildings. Detroit’s abandoned houses have made headlines and produced a wonderfully sad photo series, and now, instead of just being mined for copper by thieves, their battle-worn doors are being refashioned for a new transit-related project that combines public art and social design. They will now become part of a series of bus stops with the goal being to improve the image of Detroit’s public transit system while, in an upcoming ‘version 2.0,’ implementing modern amenities like GPS markers and solar panels.

According toniversity of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, an urban design project such as this can actually change many of the messages communicated by the streetscape:

Bus stops advertise the transit system to the public. A stop that looks dirty or neglected, or whose waiting passengers look hot, cold, wet, confused or vulnerable sends a devastating message: you’re lucky you don’t have to ride the bus. The use of public transportation is typically read as being without means; that the people, place and service of public transportation are at best, secondary considerations in the economic and environmental operations of the city. We wanted to change that.

Read the rest at: PFSK