  Emuaaron Member Username: Emuaaron Post Number: 37 Registered: 07-2005 |
So, my word of the day from www.dictionary.com is Potemkin Village. Here's the definition: Potemkin village \puh-TEM(P)-kin, noun: An impressive facade or display that hides an undesirable fact or state; a false front. Here's the origin: A Potemkin village is so called after Grigori Aleksandrovich Potemkin, who had elaborate fake villages built in order to impress Catherine the Great on her tours of the Ukraine and the Crimea in the 18th century. Now, for my point (this isn't just an advertisement for www.dictionary.com): This reminded me of the stories i heard about Coleman Young 'dressing up' the abandoned buildings downtown for the republican nat'l convention in the '80s. Does anyone have any pics of this? How many buildings were involved? was it as stupid as i picture it being? | ||
Mwilbert Member Username: Mwilbert Post Number: 235 Registered: 11-2007 |
It was as stupid as you picture it being. This kind of dressing-up has been done multiple times in Detroit, but if I remember correctly on that occasion they even put fake silhouettes of people in some of the windows to make it look as if they were inhabited if you were looking from the People Mover. | ||
Fnemecek Member Username: Fnemecek Post Number: 2803 Registered: 12-2004 |
I don't think there were fake silhouettes, but there certainly were awning put on various abandoned buildings so you couldn't tell from from the DPM that they were vacant. | ||
Dds Member Username: Dds Post Number: 627 Registered: 10-2006 |
Just look at some pictures from the Super Bowl. You'll get the idea. | ||
Mwilbert Member Username: Mwilbert Post Number: 236 Registered: 11-2007 |
I remember the awnings, but I thought I remembered silhouettes--I could certainly be mistaken. I also (maybe not from the 1980 convention) remember them putting up decals of flowers in pots on some of the buildings. I don't know if that was for a specific event or just a general attempt to spruce things up. | ||
Gazhekwe Member Username: Gazhekwe Post Number: 2118 Registered: 08-2007 |
Some DPM facing empty offices were furnished for that, and I think along the Hudsons stretch they put people silhouettes, not the kind that would fool you but just to look nice. Same with the ground floor windows in the Tuller and Statler Hilton. | ||
Neilr Member Username: Neilr Post Number: 730 Registered: 06-2005 |
The Statler had large awnings installed on the big curved windows on the second floor at People Mover height, IIRC. When first installed, they looked fine, however, they were up for years and did not age well becoming more tattered as time when on. The silhouettes were of large stylized people. They were not intended to be realistic, again, IIRC. | ||
Karenk Member Username: Karenk Post Number: 68 Registered: 07-2006 |
Sounds like "Blazing Saddles" when they built the fake town. Geez, when it's not meant to be funny, it's just pitiful. | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 6796 Registered: 10-2003 |
Sounds like Novi. "Look kids, it's main street of a small town!" "No dad, it's just another shitty strip mall that looks like one." | ||
Jimaz Member Username: Jimaz Post Number: 5405 Registered: 12-2005 |
Remember this one?  The fake troops in Bush's quote: | ||
Detroitplanner Member Username: Detroitplanner Post Number: 1630 Registered: 04-2006 |
In 1980 there was some of that work done, including a giant billboard over the Monroe Block stating the area was under restoration. Those building were finally ripped down in the 1990's, to be replaced with nothing. In 1980 there was relatively little of this done. Remember back then both Hudson's and the Book Cadillac were both open. It was a much more active environment even then it is now. Right around the time of the Cobo Hall expansion and Fox Theatre renovation there was some additional awnings put up. By this time (the middle-80's) downtown (outside of the financial district) had become deserted except for pockets of retail still left along Woodward. This was because everyone moved into the Rencen. Argueably GM moving downtown was good for other buildings as people moved out of the Ren-Cen and found other locations in nearby buildings for a song. It was not so good however for New Center who saw lots of businesses close up. | ||
Sean_of_detroit Member Username: Sean_of_detroit Post Number: 388 Registered: 03-2008 |
Yeah, but if you had to choose one...? It was a nice save for downtown and the Ren Cen. Stuff had to be consolidated eventually. On another note; Does anyone remember the sexy silhouette campaign being done in L.A. to help sell apartments? It was posted on here not to long ago in a thread comparing that market to Detroit's? I guess L.A. was (and still is) projecting shapely silhouettes of women dancing "erotically" in the windows of their vacant apartments. They insist it has worked. But then that is Hollywood for you. Everyone expects it to be "fake". (Message edited by sean_of_detroit on May 20, 2008) | ||
Sean_of_detroit Member Username: Sean_of_detroit Post Number: 389 Registered: 03-2008 |
Ah, here we go; Excerpt: The mortgage crisis in the USA has created a very depressed housing market and as a consequence, sellers are having a hard time finding buyers. A new apartment complex in Los Angeles is using a very unorthodox method to find interested buyers for its apartment units: gyrating, sexy window dancers. The complex managers have featured silhouettes of female dancers in the windows who move and gyrate behind flashy curtains and disco lights to attract passersby. The dancers, however, are not real people but DVD images played over projectors. Link to video & pics: http://www.trendhunter.com/tre nds/creative-real-estate-sales -window-dancers-to-sell-apartm ents Edit: Spelling (Message edited by sean_of_detroit on May 20, 2008) |
