Los Pistoleros installs shelter made of recycled materials at CCeX

Local design collective Los Pistoleros has installed a self-contained shelter at Center for Creative eXchange in Woodbridge. The 8- by 12-foot structure – complete with porch, windows and cross-ventilation – was built out of a dismantled Brightmoor home in an attempt to demonstrate the viability of reused materials, including nails.

According to Los Pistoleros member and architect Brian Hurttienne, the shelter can theoretically be used as a "homeless shelter or an artist studio. It's essentially a temporary residence for someone."

The project came out of the Shrinking Cities exhibit at MOCAD. Hurttienne says, "It's the thought of using resources that Detroit has: a number of abandoned houses. Reinvent them, provide jobs and create shelters for people." He hopes the installation can "be an example of good stewardship."

Los Pistoleros envisions this project evolving into a business, similar to others across the country, that dismantles houses and reuses materials. "Not just toilets and cabinets," says Hurttienne, "but studs and joists. In Detroit and the suburbs, this may be a very viable industry."

Hurttienne credits Los Pistoleros cohort Phillip Cooley with leading the project and CCeX director Phaedra Robinson with giving it a home for the summer.

Source: Brian Hurttienne, Los Pistoleros
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh