3M Sponsor Project: The Branch 

Detroit Educational Market and Community Center

Tasked by material solutions leader 3M to re-envision commercial spaces in a way thats impactful to Detroit in a post-pandemic world. 

We chose our location to be George S. Hosmer Branch (3506 Gratiot) an abandoned library. Through our research we found Detroit to be a city within the second most agricultural state yet there is a disparity in access to food in Detroit. Through food redistribution and invitation for collaboration, The Branch serves to educate people about available seasonal and regional produce, minimizing waste through responsible consumption, compost, and water conservation.

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Our Market space contains locally sourced goods connecting the community to Michigan goods. Hydroponic Chambers teach users about urban growing. Entering into our Produce Butcher your eyes take you on a journey as a funnel leads you straight to our compost chute. Downstairs in our community center the exhibition space is an opportunity for people, organizations, or companies to design pop-up experiences for the public. The elevator that connects to the Market level is surrounded with a permanent display of symbolic waste, increasing the awareness of individual habits of discard as the average American produces between 4-5 lbs of waste each day. The community room is a flexible space for local forums, gatherings, and workshops that are offered to the residents for reservation.  Lastly, a compost lab sits directly beneath the produce butcher above. Produce scraps are directly discarded down the chute into bins that are rotated and managed to cultivate compost, or collection of scraps for experimentation and the creation of new materials and products. Users can pass through a bioplastic curtain into a hall that encompasses the lab, witnessing process and transformation from all angles. 

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