Avon Barksdale and Stringer Bell from “The Wire” are in this West Riverfront Park rendering #EasterEgg pic.twitter.com/ZiCb0vWAgI
— Kirk Pinho (@kirkpinhoCDB) February 12, 2018
OK, details: The rendering is one of many provided by design firms competing for the job of designing a new riverfront park west of downtown Detroit. Four different design teams presented renderings that are on view until Feb. 22 at 1001 Woodward Ave.
This rendering is part of a series called "Detroit riveryards." It's from New York-based James Corner Field Operations in collaboration with more than a dozen other firms. The designer's notable projects include the High Line in New York.
The image, "The Fitness Factory," features a group of people watching as a few men play basketball. One of the men appears to be Wood Harris, the actor who portrayed drug kingpin Avon Randolph Barksdale on The Wire. One of the spectators appears to be Idris Elba, who played narcotics capitalist Stringer Bell on the same show.
Violet Ikonomova
Is that Wee-Bey Brice?
Needless to say, Pinho was tactful in the extreme to present the inclusion of these well-known faces from The Wire as some sort of "easter egg" there to reward fans of the television show. In fact, one didn't need to venture far from this tweet to find some whose tone was less gentle confronting this appropriation of characters from a gritty crime drama. Take a peek at this tweet from Detroit journalist James David Dickson:
This is Purple Gang Barge, part 2. Not sure why this keeps happening, and degeneracy keeps being amplified on these riverfront projects. It’s not all fun and games and crack fries. https://t.co/AJaiy5WIXB
— James David Dickson (@downi94) February 13, 2018
The reference to a Purple Gang Barge is an in-joke for some of Dickson's followers. The "crack fries" reference hits about the same note, given the flap over the way Hopcat touts how addictive its seasoned fries are by naming them after the epidemic that decimated urban America in the 1980s. In fact, it prompts a deeper question about these design firms, staffed with upper-income professionals, often from out of state: Who's visioning who?
The Detroit Riverfront Conservancy left pads seeking comments on which designs leave "top impressions" with Detroiters, and has promised to share comments with the winning team. Therefore, it might be overkill to share your thoughts with James Corner Field Operations. Just a thought ...
