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The Motown Movement

The Motown Movement is a non-profit organization that fights climate change by making sustainable housing accessible for everyone. Via an online platform and offline showcase in Detroit, low budget & DIY sustainable  technologies have been designed and shared among the community. Thereby empowering the people and building a grassroots movement in the city that put the world on wheels: Motown. 

Why doesn’t everyone fight against climate change with the technologies already at hand? We stumbled upon this question during our architecture studies at the Technological University of Delft. We are able to transform old broken-down houses into self-sufficient homes all over the world, yet we show a lack of effort to inspire, motivate and empower others to do the same. This way, technical innovation and brilliance is left almost untouched by the majority of people.

Therefore, our goal is to upscale the fight against climate change by making sustainable housing accessible for everyone. We want to inspire and motivate others to take action for their own financial benefits, but moreover for the benefit of our future world and generations. Two birds with one stone, we would say.

Before we visited Detroit, we expected to see an exceptional phenomenon happening: a metropolitan city in full decay. Instead, we saw a city putting itself back together and recovering its lost glory. What a resilience. This inexhaustible dedication inspired us as young architecture students. We see great potential in implementing simple but effective technologies that go along with the Motor City’s resilient, creative and independent spirit. Residents have not only shown us that they embrace bold bottom-up initiatives, but also that they have the urge, capacity and desire to realize change. That’s why the ideal city for our pilot project is Detroit: the do-it-yourself city.

We develop and share low-budget and do-it-yourself methods to transform worn-down houses into self-sufficient homes. To demonstrate the methods, we will build showcases in Detroit and elsewhere around the world.
The different methods and techniques will serve as a menu for sustainable innovations. Various solutions will be displayed for the same item, added with useful information about the costs, savings, suppliers and assembly instructions.
The home serves as a showcase and a community center. The ground floor will be our demonstration home with a training center. The upper level of the two-family-home will be given to a Detroit family that lost their home due to tax foreclosures. Finally, the basement will be housing the local resource center that provides the neighbors with computers, wifi and books.

Before we visited Detroit, we expected to see an exceptional phenomenon happening: a metropolitan city in full decay. Instead, we saw a city putting itself back together and recovering its lost glory. What a resilience. This inexhaustible dedication inspired us as young architecture students. We see great potential in implementing simple but effective technologies that go along with the Motor City’s resilient, creative and independent spirit. Residents have not only shown us that they embrace bold bottom-up initiatives, but also that they have the urge, capacity and desire to realize change. That’s why the ideal city for our pilot project is Detroit: the do-it-yourself city.

We develop and share low-budget and do-it-yourself methods to transform worn-down houses into self-sufficient homes. To demonstrate the methods, we will build showcases in Detroit and elsewhere around the world.
The different methods and techniques will serve as a menu for sustainable innovations. Various solutions will be displayed for the same item, added with useful information about the costs, savings, suppliers and assembly instructions.
The home serves as a showcase and a community center. The ground floor will be our demonstration home with a training center. The upper level of the two-family-home will be given to a Detroit family that lost their home due to tax foreclosures. Finally, the basement will be housing the local resource center that provides the neighbors with computers, wifi and books.

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Studio Hendrikx is a design studio led by Inventor, Architect & Biodesigner Bob Hendrikx. The team consists of designers, engineers and scientists who focus solely on collaborating with living organisms, hereby striving for a new fundamental relationship with the natural world. 

Studio located in Delft, The Netherlands
General inquiries: contact@studiohendrikx.com 
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