DETROIT (WXYZ) — A world-renown architecture firm will be designing the new "Glass Mural" office and retail building in Eastern Market.
It will be a four-story mixed-use building with a glass façade located at the intersection of Russell and Division streets. On the glass, there will be colorful walls celebrating existing murals.
Detroit-based L.S. Brinker Company will be the contractor on the project and MVRDV will design the building with a stack of shifting glass blocks.
“We loved the idea of the artworks that bring this area to life, and this building is our tribute to this character, eternalized through a printing technique,” said Winy Maas, MVRDV co-founding partner. “It allows us to interact with the spirit of the neighborhood in a way that is playful and unexpected. Our decision to do so with glass is also practical, as it allows us to incorporate windows to become a part of the artwork, not an obstacle for artists to work around. That enables a greater level of faithfulness to the original artwork that will be recreated, as well as greater artistic freedom for the new artwork.”
There is currently a two-story brick building that will be torn down. It features a mural by artist DENIAL, and MVRDV proposes to recreate the mural and the brick pattern on the new canvas made of glass.
Sheefy McFly will design a new mural on the upper half of the new building, and the smallest block will be an ever-changing canvas for different artists.
There will be retail spaces on the ground level and the upper three levels will be available for office or commercial use.
The walls of the building will be produced using digital ceramic printing.
The first stage of the project began this week, with construction set to begin next year. MVRDV
