Adaptive Detroit: Design Forum on Reuse + Renovation

ADAPTIVE DETROIT is a one-day forum that creates a space for collective conversation, bringing together architects, developers, policymakers, preservationists, artists, and residents.

Through presentations, discussions, workshops, and debate, it will build exchange across disciplines, strengthen collective capacity, and position Detroit within a broader movement toward inclusive, sustainable, and adaptive futures. This movement is rooted in creative stewardship of the structures, histories, and communities that already exist throughout the city today. What exists, and has existed, can often be overlooked, obscuring the subtle intricacies and depth that decades of material presence can offer. Whether the factories that produced the arsenal of democracy or an empty warehouse that hosted the first techno rave, something beneath the degrading concrete holds enduring value.

The built environment is responsible for nearly 40% of global carbon emissions, half of which result from construction and embodied carbon from buildings and their materials. Working with existing structures i…