DETROIT — Sasaki Associates, U3 Ventures, and Midtown Detroit have been honored with a SCUP Excellence in Planning Merit Award and a BSLA Landscape Analysis and Planning Merit Award for their official district plan for TechTown.
SCUP (Society for College and University Planning) nationally represents campus planning and the SCUP Excellence Awards Program acknowledges innovative, collaborative, multidisciplinary, and integrated approaches to planning and design.
The BSLA (Boston Society of Landscape Architects) is a chapter of the national organization the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA).
TechTown — an emerging knowledge district in Midtown Detroit — is currently characterized by surface parking and inward-facing, siloed hubs of activity. The TechTown District Plan articulates an inspiring vision for the regeneration of the district. The plan accelerates innovation, promotes entrepreneurship, and builds community around the generation of ideas in a vibrant, mixed-use setting.
A key feature of the plan, and early action item, is a plaza at the heart of the district that contains a variety of program and design elements to foster creativity and the exchange of ideas throughout all seasons.
“The TechTown District Plan is a creative and dynamic approach tapping the rich educational and institutional resources found in the Midtown area,” says Sue Mosey, president of Midtown Detroit Inc. “The plan will offer not only an environment of innovation and entrepreneurship but also a quality of life that will attract high caliber people and businesses to the area.”
