I’m a fan of Detroit. I love its history, its people, and the current fight within the city to bring it back to its former glory. There’s a movement going on in Detroit that’s often left out of the typical conversation. There’s an art scene. There’s music. There’s life. Chris Miele captured one specific part of Detroit that has become convenient to forget about in a time now popular for abandoned building urbexing. He’s an outdoor photographer who focused on the good still left in the city of Detroit, Michigan. Shying away from the usual "rubble porn", Miele showcases the awesome structures within a city's futuristic past.
Miele is a fine art photographer, specializing in outdoor landscape and cityscape imagery, who is based in Los Angeles, California. He recently published a series of twelve images of Detroit’s futuristic looking buildings that aren’t decaying. He stressed the fact that they aren’t decaying because it’s too often found these days that photographers trek to far off ruins for dirty adventures within the buildings of yore. Chris decided to focus on what was forward-thinking about these buildings, and how they’re still, to this day, in remarkable shape.
This is the first in his series titled "Rumors" which is about "challenging what you have heard, been told, or have even seen for yourself." Chris explains:
We've all heard about the many buildings of Detroit that are abandoned, decayed, burned, and left to crumble. What about the buildings that haven't been maligned and left to die? For the first complete series of RUMORS I wanted to highlight structures that not only haven't fallen into disrepair, but instead could pass for structures of the future. Within this series are architectural milestones, charter schools that replaced their rotting counterparts, and glass so gleaming the only reflections are that of hope and growth. Perception is a powerful tool, I hope this series gives a glimpse of a more promising Detroit.
The colors of a winter sunset reflect off this Downtown Detroit office building. Much of Detroit's future remains an enigmatic puzzle much like the Rubik's Cube these windows mimic.
Architect Minoru Yamasaki made his big splash in Detroit and he did it by designed his first skyscraper, One Woodward Avenue. This building stands both as a cornerstone to Detroit, and to Yamasaki who later went on to design the World Trade Centers.
In a grand example of perception (or misconception) stands the newly built Cass Tech High School. This Cass Corridor beacon of steel and glass sits just mere feet from it's predecessor and the focus of many a Detroit ruin story.
Adjacent to the people mover in Downtown Detroit stands the Boll Family YMCA. Beautiful design and upper level glass breaks the notion that all YMCAs are beaten and tattered.
Cold rain fuels the presence of stream escaping from the COBO center in Downtown Detroit. Like a scene from a sci-fi movie, the steel blue colors of the night and tireless steam represent the industrial past of Detroit, but with a hint of future potential.
You can see the full set (along with other stellar work) at Chris' website, and you can follow Chris on Instagram and Twitter.
Images used with permission.
