The design proposal for a neighborhood in Detroit repositions infrastructure as a civic project, under the name of The Seebaldt Pilot (TSP). Building on longterm community engagement, the large group of collaborators proposes a pilot project for local energy and food production, water and waste management, and community empowerment. Solar photovoltaic canopies, rainwater collection, geothermal wells, and community gardens are stitched through the existing neighborhood on currently empty lots. The collectively owned and managed infrastructure is both a gathering point and a new revenue stream for additional community services and an enhanced public realm. 

The jury commended the proposal’s fundamentally optimistic approach. Taking the pocket vacancies normally characterized as the biggest problem in Detroit, the design turns them into an opportunity to create a compelling sustainable neighborhood. The combination of solar and geothermal energy, rainwater collection, and community gardening is particularly powerful in a city that struggles to provide basic services at the municipal level. Physical investiture is complemented with education through training programs and investment through collective ownership and revenue sharing. Here, the infrastructure of energy and food production reinforces the infrastructure of community building. The strengths of the project in organization and planning are not yet matched by its architectural expression and the jury noted that the multifunctional umbrella roof being proposed will need to be refined as it moves into more detailed design phases.