A Miesian Community That Still Works

Sam Graves at Dwell says that Detroit's Lafayette Park, planned by Mies van der Rohe in 1956, is a rare success story from the planned developments of that era.

1 minute read

December 5, 2011, 7:00 AM PST

By Tim Halbur


Graves primarily writes (in the Dwell style) about a couple who renovates one of the single-family homes in the complex. But the opening paragraph sets the renovation in context:

"Within a sprawling, decentralized city that has suffered near-disastrous decline, this racially and economically diverse enclave just northeast of downtown has not only aged gracefully but today flourishes with new life."


An early model of Lafayette Park. PHOTO: Josh Jackson.

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