Re-Grand Marais

Year   2025
Site   Ann Arbor, MI
Prof   Peter Halquist

       Rhino
       Illustrator

Re-Grand Marais explores the concept of density gradation as a means to celebrate the existing landscape and its temporal qualities, guiding inhabitation and coexistence. The site spans just under 2300ft, with current residental occupancy at less than 10% of its potential capacity. Our strategy for reinstuting density involves the installation of five corridors along the site’s edges, grading between housing typologies.

The edges adjacent to Jefferson Ave, Kercheval St, Eastlawn St, and Newport St feature high-rise towers up to seven stories with arch-like openings marking monumental corridor entries into the reclaimed wetlands. These towers house smaller household units of studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom units. The towers’ voids create open-air spaces, accented with green tiling reminiscent of Belle Isle’s aquarium.

At the core of the site are lower density single-family homes and cabins. These are elevated on stilts, to minimize ground contact with a central ‘reclaimed wetlands.’ This wetland honors the swamp, the Grand Marais, which formerly occupied the Jefferson chalmers area. On a macro scale, the corridors are stitched together through a network of hardscapes and softscapes, leveraging existing site conditions to shape pathways and collective space.