Hamilton Anderson Associates (HAA) is an award winning, multi-disciplinary design firm dedicated to improving the built environment through creative, contemporary design. Our design process combines rigorous analysis, intuitive curiosity, and thoughtful execution to create inspiring, contextually responsive solutions. Our multi-disciplinary practice demands an open and collaborative conversation between practice leaders, among design teams, and with our client stakeholders. In addition to our proven record of design excellence, HAA is the largest African American-owned design practice in Michigan. Our unique leadership brings to our practice a set of priorities that are instilled in everyone at HAA, helping shape our design sensitivities and making sure that we remember that design should be fair for all concerned.
Paradise Valley was a thriving business and entertainment district adjacent a densely-populated African-American residential area in Detroit, known as Black Bottom, from the 1920s to 1950s. Located on the near-east side of downtown, Black Bottom was where a majority of Detroit’s African-American population lived, while Paradise Valley was where many worked and played, with more than 300 black-owned businesses ranging from drugstores and beauty salons, to nightclubs and theaters. However, in the 1960s, urban renewal programs and freeway projects led to the demolition of Paradise Valley and Black Bottom, and with it, their immense cultural and historical significance to the city and the African-American community.
Paradise Valley: Designing a Commemorative Cultural and Entertainment District looks to highlight the past, present, and future of Paradise Valley. Participants will learn about its vibrant history and tragic displacement through visual displays. A guided walking tour will explore the Paradise Valley Cultural and Entertainment District, established south of Ford Field in 2015 to honor and revive lost cultural and economic vitality. The tour, led by Hamilton Anderson Associates in collaboration with the Paradise Valley Conservancy, will discuss on-going infill and rehabilitation projects for the district, as well as master planning and programming efforts underway.
