THE REIGNITION OF DETROIT

The forgotten buckle of America's Rust Belt, Detroit is a city on the brink of radical change. Compared to cities like Berlin, artists from across the country are becoming aware of the massive potential in this post-industrial town.

Recently, legendary urban developer Tony Goldman visited Detroit and was brimming with the potential he found there. The man behind the re-invigoration of neighborhoods like SoHo in New York City, and South Beach in Miami, Goldman sees incredible potential in the future of the Motor City as well.

In Detroit, Goldman says he would amplify and multiply the city’s strength — its affordability to artists, musicians, designers and other creative workers. “Berlin is the most exciting city in Europe because it’s cheap to live there and attractive to young people doing unheard of things. I would re-make Detroit as the capital of the avant-garde, the experimental, a city like no other in America. To do that I’d flood the city with artists, 100,000 artists from all over the world living and working here.”

But first, he says, the city needs a cohesive vision to attract the foundations and the corporations. “They want to get behind Detroit, I know they do: but there needs to be strong leadership in place, incremental work and stable growth — like a good relationship. It won’t happen overnight, it’s a patient process. But once it gets started, this city will be unstoppable.”

Read more at Firehouse Detroit.

PAINTING URBANISM

Haas&Hahn is the working title of artistic duo Jeroen Koolhaas and Dre Urhahn. They started working together in 2005, when they filmed a documentary about hip hop in the favelas of Rio and São Paolo for MTV. Inspired by this visit, they embarked on a journey to bring outrageous works of art to unexpected places, starting with painting enormous murals in the slums of Brazil together with the local youth.

The initial idea of the Favela Painting project has always been to paint an entire hillside favela in the center of Rio, visible to all inhabitants and visitors. As the portuguese translation for 'the hill'; 'o morro' is also used as a synonym for slum or favela, we chose to use this name for the third stage of the Favela Painting project.

This project involves employing the inhabitants of a favela to paint their own houses according to a pre-arranged pattern. It will turn their community into an artwork of epic scale and will produce an explosion of color, joyfully radiating into the world. Visible from the center of Rio, 'O Morro' will draw attention to the city's deplorable social situation, while instilling pride and joy in the at the bottom of the social hierarchy.

By focusing on extensive and painstaking preparations and working with a local workforce, Haas&Hahn hope to complete a significant part of the painting in a single 'day of visual impact' that will kick start this art intervention on a massive scale, create a joyful shock felt around the world, and write a new page in the city's history.

Learn more at Favela Painting.