The Fabulous Ruins of Detroit -- Website review by
Mike Smith
Lowell
Boileau, The Fabulous Ruins of Detroit
Reviewed
by Mike Smith, Walter Reuther Library, Wayne State University,
Detroit,
Michigan. Published by H-Urban (August, 1999)
For an optimist, it is a good time to be in Motown. The mad rush to
leave the city has abated and it appears that Detroit may have entered an
era of economic resurgence and structural redevelopment.
Detroit's physical structure is indeed being reshaped. There are
new single family home developments in the city--the first in forty years.
General Motors moved its headquarters into the centerpiece of city's
skyline, the Renaissance Center, and vowed to develop the nearby
riverfront. Business system giant Compuware recently announced plans to
move its international headquarters into a new office complex it will
build on the former site of Hudson's legendary downtown department store.
Two major sports stadiums are being built adjacent to the city's revived
theater district, and within a few years, Las Vegas-style gambling casinos
will be landmarks near the Detroit River.
Artist/photographer Lowell Boileau's fascinating web site, The
Fabulous Ruins of Detroit, however, reminds us that, in the midst of
redevelopment, Detroit is also a city with large expanses of deteriorating
structures. Once elegant homes and churches as well as world-famous
factories and former city landmarks lay in ruins; others have already been
demolished. Moreover, Boileau suggests that we should explore and ponder
these contemporary remains of a modern urban civilization with the same
zeal as we might approach the ancient ruins of Athens, Rome or Ephesus. To
this end--and to show his art--Boileau created The Fabulous Ruins of
Detroit, a visually stunning portrait of the decaying superstructure of
Detroit that displays over two hundred of author's recent photographs as
well as a few of his paintings of the city's modern landscape.
Boileau's visual work is outstanding. The photographs are superb:
they are crisp, evocative images from a wide-range of territory within
Detroit's city limits. The web site begins with an action photo of
Hudson's famous downtown department store midway through the implosion
that transformed it into a giant heap of rubble. Thereafter, Boileau
neatly locates his photographs within subject areas. "Industrial
Ruins," for example, documents historic abandoned automotive
factories such as Henry Ford's Highland Park and Piquette Avenue assembly
plants, as well as those of Studebaker, Fisher Body and Uniroyal.
Buildings that were once impressive icons in a bustling downtown such as
the Cadillac Hotel and Michigan Central Railroad Station are shown in
their current decrepit state, long-past any hope of renovation and reuse,
in "Downtown Ruins." A few of the many abandoned, once-elegant
homes, apartment buildings and schools, along with the demise of the
infamous Jeffries Projects, are presented in "Neighborhood
Ruins." In "The City Rises," Boileau lets the viewer know
that all is not lost in the Motor City; that a few buildings such as
Orchestra Hall, home of the Detroit Symphony, and the former home of
nineteenth lumber baron David Whitney, now a four-star restaurant, have
been preserved and are thriving.
Boileau's narrative tells a story of physical decay and human
neglect. His labels and narrative provide a very brief history of each
site photographed. Boileau also devotes a few words to the causes of
Detroit's present situation, suggesting that the city's decline can be
largely traced to the dispersal of its population resulting in loss of
revenue. More important, however, he reasons that "an accumulated
lack of basic aesthetic sensibility" and a "spirit in Detroit
that may be quintessentially American....a spirit that looks blindly
forward and even more blindly backward--like the restless frontier folk of
the nation's past, always moving west in search of more 'elbow room'"
may underlay Detroiters' overwhelming lack of concern over the demise of
their physical history.
This web site is an outstanding exhibition on several levels. First
and foremost, it is a visual treat. The images are excellent, and they
load easily and quickly. The design does limit the viewer to a linear
progression through much of the site, but it also allows for easy
maneuvering. Furthermore, generally accurate, essential facts accompany
each photograph or painting. Boileau also provides useful links to other
related web sites, to his e-mail address, and to further exhibitions of
his art. For the casual viewer, preservationist, urbanist or architect, it
is a visual feast and an informative tour of one aspect of Detroit's
cultural heritage. It is easy to see why Yahoo chose the site for its 1998
"Pick of the Year."
Urban historians, especially those who study Detroit, will find
Boileau's site interesting and informative, but at times, a bit maddening.
To be fair, the author's mission was not to present a comprehensive
history of Detroit, and this site should not be judged in the same manner
as a historical monograph; nevertheless, Boileau does convey a historical
message. Scholars will find that the author's historical theories are
often simplistic and incomplete. For example, Boileau states that: "A
lack of free parking and the easy access provided to suburban shopping
malls by new expressways in the post World War II era led to its
[Detroit's] decline." The story is, of course, much more complex than
his conclusions suggest. Moreover, Boileau addresses such issues as the
effects of race relations, governmental policies, deindustrialization,
and/or urban planning in only the most cursory manner, if at all. In
short, this web site is largely a critical exhibition: it is not a work of
historiography.
Boileau, however, deserves credit for what he has created. The
Fabulous Ruins of Detroit is a compelling, provocative web site that
allows viewers from around the world to explore and reflect upon Detroit's
neglected physical past.
Citation:
Mike Smith, "Review of The Fabulous Ruins of Detroit,"
H-Urban,
H-Net Reviews, August 1999. URL: http://www.h-net.msu.edu/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=151.
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