Recycled shipping container condos unveiled in Corktown
DETROIT (WJBK) -
It is upcycling on a grand scale - turning shipping containers into condos in Corktown.
Now the eye-catching project is being used for more than just housing.
"They took something that wasn't really used and made an innovative idea of it." said Riya Achiri who attends City School in Grand Blanc.
Students from Mid-Michigan take a trip to the Corktown section of Detroit to learn about innovation from shipping containers that have been recycled and given a new life as "Container Condos."
"t's just wonderful for kids to see how things can be adapted to a new use, that we have to be creative and think outside the box," said Vickie Weiss, Grand Blanc City School teacher.
The woman behind the shipping container condos is Leslie Horn, CEO of Three Squared, Inc.
She recently brought on former NBA player John Salmons to join her team
"We got a retired basketball player who is from Philadelphia joining Three Squared team who wants to bring this type of technology and duplicate what we are doing here in the city," said Leslie Horn
Salmons says he hopes to show these students that just as shipping containers can be reinvented, so can NBA players.
"You can't play forever," he said. "You have to retire you have to do different things. Eventually we want to take this concept back to Philly, but want to get it going in Detroit first," Salmons said.
Students say they are inspired.
"Last year when we came to see it, it looked like shipping container stacked on each other," said Achiri. "But when we came inside our whole class was amazed."
"It's becoming way more accepted more viable building application," Horn said. "Upcycling is taking a product that is used and build and kind of discarded and reimagining it into housing."
Leaders from the City of Detroit hope what students see and learn about shipping containers will motivate them to create and be inspired.
“Visits like this start to encourage them to start thinking and asking questions and that's what will be the foundation of driving Detroit forward," said Jill Ford with the city of Detroit.