‘Detroit’s Abandoned Ruins Are Captivating, but Are They Bad for Neighbourhoods?’
‘Detroit’s Abandoned Ruins Are Captivating, but Are They Bad for Neighbourhoods?’ is an article that was written by Kate Abbey- Lambertz in the year 2017. The article describes the situation in Detroit in regard to the abandoned city and the way that this situation affects the neighbourhoods. She incorporates the use of photos of the ruined buildings in Detroit taken by professional photographers that visit the city from all over the world to show the current situation in the city and the urgent need to help restructure this neighbourhood. Lambertz begins her article by citing the Michigan Central Depot which is one of the significant ruined buildings in Detroit which helps to set the mood for the article.
Lambertz main goal is to try and define the current Detroit and her article paints a clear picture of the city that has now become a feature of exploration. In the article, she also tries to illustrate that the world and entire society do not see the seriousness of the ruined Detroit and the need to have it restructured. This message is very inspiring and it helps one to make sense of the situation in Detroit and the way that the real problem is downplayed. People come from all corners of the world to explore the ruined iconic buildings, taking pictures and telling their stories in magazines the best way that they know how (Lambertz, p.1). Her article basically targets the whole society which is inclusive of everyone that has an interest in the current state of Detroit to make them aware of the urgent need to have this city rebuilt.
It is frustrating to see the way that the ruins are glamourized in magazines and other mediums instead of looking for ways to revive and rebuild this iconic neighbourhood. The city has become a horror neighbourhood with increasing cases of criminal activities like car trafficking and robberies as more visitors come in to view the ruins (Lambertz, p.1). In the overall, Lambertz clearly brings out the urgent need to help revive Detroit in this article. Most of the ruined buildings that are in Detroit are iconic structures that deserve to be preserved for their historic significance. This is however not the case, these buildings have now become the havens of crimes hence attracting the wrong attention which is very distressing (Lambertz, p.1). This article in the end indicates that there is hope for Detroit, these buildings can be renovated and restructured to change the current state in Detroit. Lambertz uses the example of Packard Plant that was purchased and hopes to be renovated to become a mixed used space meaning that many businesses will be opened up and this will help in encouraging people to come back to Detroit (Lambertz, p.1).
The mode of communication that Lambertz uses in the article is a bit complex in that some of the concepts are not clearly brought out. The fact that she is from Detroit makes her explain the situation from the point of view of someone that is from Detroit not considering the people who are not from there but want to understand learn about what the situation is in Detroit. One has to really have an idea about the situation in Detroit in order to understand what she is talking about. In overall, the content of the message is very effective in persuading the society about the need to rebuild Detroit, a clear picture of the issues happening in the city are well stated.
Works cited
Lambertz, Kate. "Detroit's Abandoned Ruins Are Captivating, But Are They Bad For
Neighborhoods?." HuffPost UK. N.p., 2017. Web. 2 Nov. 2018.
