Flower House: Vacant House Turned Flower Installation

By: Amber Ogden | October 6, 2015
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Metro Detroit is full of creativity and bursting with innovative minds. One of the latest projects to come out of the city, Flower House, is breaking the mold of ingenuity and creating something totally new by filling an abandoned house floor to ceiling with fresh, living flowers.

Lisa Waud, Flower House creator and Pot and Box founder, drew inspiration from artists Christo and Jean-Claude’s project, in which they wrapped a Paris bridge in fabric. Waud was entranced by the idea of creating something that takes a long time to plan and execute, but is only experienced for a short time.

Flower House

(Photo courtesy of Heather Saunders Photography)

“I wasn’t quite certain how to embody my love of that until I saw images from the 2012 fall-winter Dior show in a mansion outside of Paris,” Waud said, adding that the walls were covered in flowers.

From Friday, Oct. 16 through Sunday, Oct. 18, the public can experience the Flower House exhibit, located at 11751 Dequindre St., Hamtramck.

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Waud purchased the house for $250 at a Hamtramck auction, and she and her team of florists have put together an astounding display.

“I like to say I roll with a pretty fierce crew of local florists here,” Waud said, noting that teams from California, Canada, Milwaukee, Ohio and New York will also be participating in the installation.

Flower House

(Photo courtesy of Heather Saunders Photography)

Waud also hopes that people who haven’t visited the city of Detroit for a while will be drawn in for the installation.

“My main objective is to create an experience for visitors. When I saw those images of the Dior show, I had this great longing of what it felt like to be in that room,” Waud said. Since she yearned to experience what that room smelled and sounded like, she plans to bring that very experience to visitors of Flower House.

After the installation, the house will be deconstructed and materials, such as floorboards, will be repurposed by Reclaim Detroit.

The third part of the project involves the launch of Pot and Box’s flower farm, located where the house currently stands. All ticket sales go toward the demolition of Flower House after the installation.

For more information on Flower House, or to purchase tickets, visit http://www.theflower.house.

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