The W83rd Street Project

In July, 2011, MOD{all}studio presented “The W83rd Street Project,” a collaborative urban therapy installation of art and architecture at 2040 West 83rd Street, which marks the rebuilding of the West 83rd Street community after a January 25th 2010 gas explosion rocked a neighborhood yet helped bring a community together.

Richey Piiparinen presented phase one of “The W83rd Street Project” in collaboration with experience artist Melissa Daubert, architect Robert Donaldson, and designer Jim Fish of MOD{all}studio; they have worked to re-envision the condemned residence at 2040 W83rd St, together with house sculptor Chris Shimp, electrical consultant  Julie Lindstrom, the area residents, Councilman Matt Zone and staff, and Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization (DSCDO), as a canvas for a memory-evoking art installation, while also creating a harbinger for the abandoned home’s ultimate demolition. The animated silhouettes, shadows, and text tell the story of a community attempting to understand issues of loss, abandonment, and home, a task that much of Cleveland at the present must do.

Materials from the demolished residence will be relocated to the south end of West 83rd Street and reimagined as part of a phase two reconstruction, a replicable template community park . Phase two is made possible in part through the local Block Club, ParkWorks, DSCDO, the City of Cleveland, and Neighborhood Connections Inc.