Destruction by Design

In Cleveland, resource exploitation and industry withdrawal drives decay. The industrial pockets along the Cuyahoga River are hostile to man. Designing with destruction, urban revival embodies a cradle-to-cradle ethos, utilizing detritus for renewal while instigating future destruction. The entropy of the city reveals programmatic needs with anticipated lifespans. Detritus serves as a program and form, addressing Cleveland’s environmental, social, and economic challenges. Cleveland is planned to become a series of crumple zones at the human, neighborhood, and urban scales. Anticipation of future needs through buckle zones facilitate deconstruction. By embracing destruction, Cleveland evolves into a resilient, metabolic system, nurturing growth amid change.