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Activists Revitalize Abandoned Detroit Home With Over 4,000 Flowers

Florists and organizers join together to reimagine empty property, and change the way the world sees their community.

Photo by Heather Saunders Photography

Type the words “abandoned house Detroit” into Google, and the following adjectives come up: death, dying, decay. Recently, a group of florists and organizers in Detroit came together and decided that they wanted to change the image (and search results) of their contentious city—simply by planting flowers inside an abandoned home.


“Community organizing” and “floral arrangements” don’t typically run together, but the results, posted in the photos below, are stunning. Reclaim Detroit, the non-profit behind the joint effort, believes that Detroit is better served by deconstructing (a mix of dismantling and re-purposing) abandoned properties rather than demolishing them. Currently, Detroit demolishes approximately 200 properties a week, close to 10,000 structures a year. The florists and organizers who united for this project believe that their city shouldn’t give up on these homes just yet. The proof is in the pictures.

Photo by Heather Saunders Photography

Photo by Heather Saunders Photography

Photo by Heather Saunders Photography

Photo by Heather Saunders Photography

Photo by Heather Saunders Photography

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