Lafayette Park, completed in 1960, is an exceptional example of modern urban architecture, as well as urban planning, according to the City of Detroit Historic Designation Advisory Board. Its 26 buildings by Mies van der Rohe, are his only works in Michigan and the largest collection of his buildings in the world. It includes a small shopping center.
Lafayette Park offers three high rise apartment buildings: Lafayette Pavilion and Lafayette Towers, designed by van der Rohe, and 1300 Lafayette East Cooperative, designed by Gunnar Birkerts. Each offers the unadorned, glass and steel feel of the Lafayette Park – which van der Rohe cited the "civilizing force" of technology as the "driving and sustaining forces" of its time – with their own swimming pools and fitness centers. However, many who prefer ground level condominiums and apartments value the intimate village feeling of the area.
Lafayette Park is a short walk from downtown and Eastern Market, and a short bike ride to the cultural center, downtown, and the East Riverfront/Belle Isle. A small shopping center offers built into the neighborhood on Lafayette Boulevard, complete with the Paris Café coffee shop and grocery store. There is plenty of green space, including a neighborhood park, with landscape architecture dressing up the periphery of the neighborhood.
For more information about Lafayette Park visit the Model D:
Neighborhood Guide
Sarah F. Cox
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Newcomers to Detroit share many of the same growing pains, says Sarah F. Cox, a 2011 transplant from Brooklyn. But the kindness of strangers pointing people in the right directions helps to overcome the disorientation of being in a strange new land. Just remember, everyone: you're welcome.
Vince Keenan
Tuesday, November 01, 2011
The two-year charter revision process has been one of the most open and transparent efforts Detroit has ever seen, writes Vince Keenan. Now it's time to cast your vote on Proposal C.
Jon Zemke
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Jerry Paffendorf is an idea man. Not the typical idea man with grand ambitions and little execution who thinks his ideas would be great for other people. Paffendorf actually turns his dreams into reality. Jon Zemke asks all the right questions.
J. Anton Blatz
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
It's mid-summer in the city and J. Anton Blatz and Rene Wymer are staying hot by hanging out with the Roosevelt Park Conservancy, Single Barrel Detroit, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. and other DIY movers, shakers and crowdfunders. Go on, we dare you to read this month's amped-up adventures and try to keep up.
Ashley C. Woods
Tuesday, June 07, 2011
Getting around the city by cycling is not just fun or exercise. It's a practical transportation option that is gaining traction in the erstwhile Motor City. We had a great discussion about it with a number of experts. Ashley Woods reports from curbside.
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