TEMPORARY TERRAIN

At first blush, the notion of redeveloping industrial ruins for contemporary uses presents a conundrum. Connoisseurs and locals invest these sites with enormous pride and celebrate the historical significance attached to their productive pasts. The derelict remains of places such as the Packard Automotive Plant in Detroit—a 3.5-million-square-foot complex of mid-rise brick and reinforced concrete buildings designed by the architect Albert Kahn, dating to 1903—vibrate with possibility, amplified by their specific connection to each locale’s core identity. In the emptiness of these idle and abandoned buildings, we feel the enduring resonance of the industrial age that gave birth to cities and regions and unleashed the economic might of nations. At the same time, they are embodiments of tremendous mourning and loss for a greater public. The blighted shells call attention…