Lafayette Park is the first urban renewal project in the country still functioning as it was intended—offering affordable, market-rate housing. The inner penetration of small and large outdoor spaces are set into courtyards, with different views outside and an open landscape. And the parking configuration is depressed 4 feet from the building. While the development’s townhomes take up most of the site, the towers are expressed as background rather than objects.
—Michael Poris, principal/AIA, McIntosh Poris Associates, Birmingham, Mich.