Detroit has had a particularly rough recent past. Two years ago, the city of Detroit filed bankruptcy. As a result, a huge stretch of buildings are completely abandoned now—shells of what they once were. Some programs like Write A House seek to fill these shells with creative energies. Adding to the awesome in rejuvenating efforts, Flower House is completely filling abandoned homes with flowers. Talk about a fresh twist!
Detroit florist, Lisa Waud, purchased an 11-room duplex for $500 last year. She plans to use 100,000 flowers to decorate 15 rooms come October to create The Flower House. Earlier this month, Waud held a preview event to get volunteers and potential sponsers stoked for her fall plan, arranging about 4,000 flowers over 48 hours in one of the homes. Waud lists Christo and Jeanne-Claude installations as inspirations for the project. After the installation itself, Flower House partners Reclaim Detroit will work to "responsibly deconstruct" the homes—an effort that can save as much as 75 percent of the building materials from going straight to the dump and thus, wasted. Once the land is cleared, Waud says she plans to use it to farm flowers for her florist endeavors.
To better understand the weight of Waud's efforts and big plan, check out how the buildings looked before she started work:
Then Waud and her crew of volunteers and artists worked those spaces into this for May's preview of what's to come:
Pretty spectacular, right? Waud is currently vetting applications from aspiring or seasoned florists interested in taking on a room's plan and decor (for which you may apply here). The Flower House is also running a fundraising campaign that ends in just under a month, if you'd like to donate. Also, if you're in the Detroit area and game to help with the installation set up (I WOULD BE SO JEALOUS), you can keep in the loop with cattle calls via their tinyletter.
