Out-of-the-box: Lawrence Tech, students build Green Box City

metromode, 4/2/2009

They're playing with boxes to build fake cities at Lawrence Technological University this week ... and that's a good thing.

The university is participating with over 300 students from Eastover Elementary School in Bloomfield Hills to build a "Green Box City." The students are working with staff from Lawrence Tech's College of Architecture & Design to build a model of urban sustainability with things that are normally thrown away.

"Box City is a program that utilizes left over materials like cardboard and construction paper," says Glen LeRoy, dean of the college of architecture & design at Lawrence Tech. "Things that will be discarded. Box City lets students use them to build a city. Green Box City does that, but lets the students incorporate sustainable elements, like green roofs."

The students and staff spent three days building a hypothetical city complete with rivers, forest, and buildings. This city was more urban in design, utilizing things like walkability and transit-oriented development.

"So you'll find a very tight knit and compact downtown and a rail system," LeRoy says. "It's very walkable."

The Green Box City will be on display at the Green Street Fair in downtown Plymouth from May 1-3.

Source: Glen LeRoy, dean of the college of architecture & design at Lawrence Technological University
Writer: Jon Zemke

Architecture , Downtown Living , Education , Higher Education , Lawrence Technological University , Oakland County , Redevelopment , Sustainability , Sustainability