Continuing our mini-series, Wayne Head is enthralled by this account of Detroit's underground music scene, which thrived in the buildings left empty by the city's decline
I’m a collector of old books and get a lot from Arnaud Desjardin of Everyday Press at the Barbican. Whenever I go in to see him, he always throws a few book ideas out there, including this one: Acid Detroit – A Psychedelic Story of Motor City Music by Joe Molloy. It had such an amazing, colourful cover, I had to buy it. It’s the newest book I’ve read for a long time.
Molloy is a DJ in Detroit who is also interested in architecture and repurposing of space. The book’s title refers to the term ‘acid communism’, coined by cultural theorist Mark Fisher, author of Capitalist Realism.
Acid Detroit is about local pride, resilience and dreams. It traces parallel tracks of music and architecture in Detroit, starting with what he describes as Fordist Motown when future stars, such as the Supremes, the Temptations and Marvin Gaye, were just starting out, tapping out their first tunes while working by day in the factories, and by night playing in the backs and basements of factories. It then moves on from psychedelic soul and Motown to the garage rock of the 70s.
Molloy talks about how this gargantuan corporate power structure was in charge for decades before going into post-capitalist decline. As Detroit changed, along came the musicians and artists. There was a rich counterculture rising through. It was all very entrepreneurial but there were dark aspects too, including riots – hundreds of buildings were burnt out. Artists started to sing about this in songs such as Motor City is Burning by MC5, released in 1969.
As the city declined in the 1970s, lots of warehouses and industrial spaces became available for jamming and free gigging. There’s amazing footage online of Suzi Quatro playing in these environments in early videos and of MC5 playing in a factory yard in Detroit.
Later on, there was hip hop and lots of DJs, ravers and rappers – notably Eminem, many of whose videos feature Detroit locations. The spaces of the city are prominent all the way through the book alongside the music. Lots of rappers are filmed from inside their cars, bouncing along to the tunes, and you can see the city in the background.
With more decline, Detroit became an entrepreneurial economy. More post-industrial buildings were repurposed for activities such as art markets, raves and marijuana dispensaries, including one very famous one: the Albert Kahn-designed Russell Industrial Center. This former factory was repurposed for music, art, recording and community space. Detroit has remained in this post-capitalist mindset ever since.
At Curl la Tourelle Head Architecture, we’re working on repurposing space a lot more in our projects these days. This is a good thing at all scales, from large frame retention to smaller scheme reuses. We’ve recently converted an office building into a school in Barnet and are looking at repurposing a 19th-century seaman’s hostel in Ramsgate into space for entrepreneurial start-ups.
I think Acid Detroit is an amazing book. I’ve never been to Detroit but I would love to go there.
Wayne Head is director of Curl la Tourelle Head Architecture. He was speaking to Pamela Buxton
Acid Detroit - A Psychedelic Story of Motor City Music by Joe Molloy. Repeater Books, 2023
Read more on books and see what books other architects have chosen as their favourites