reimagining the CIVIC COMMONS in southwest detroit
Public Interest Design Vertical Studio, Fall 2017
University of Detroit Mercy
This studio investigates what it means to design and facilitate a more public and community-minded "Civic Commons" by reimagining existing civic and cultural assets as well as the neighborhood network that connects them. In particular, this studio focuses on the Southwest Detroit neighborhood adjacent to the intersection of Livernois Avenue and Michigan Avenue and is in the process of exploring how cultural identity and community interests can be augmented and celebrated through the design of thoughtful "Civic Commons" that repurpose and transform existing public buildings and infrastructure. Students are charged with reimagining an existing asset as a more public program in the context of a connective neighborhood network. A series of projects included redesigning a hybrid bicycle paltera or ice cream cart, neighborhood analysis and network design, and final building transformation. Site visits and conversations with community advisors inform the work, as does a national funding initiative by the same name currently spurring related work in five cities.
WAS: COMMUNITY LANDSCAPE + SPATIAL TRANSFORMATION
Public Interest Design Vertical Studio, Fall 2014
University of Detroit Mercy
This Detroit Collaborative Design Center sponsored studio considered physical strategies for spaces in the WAS (Warwick, Artesian and Stahelin) neighborhood in Northwest Detroit. Students developed multi-layered strategies for the site, addressing landscape, urban and architectural design elements and deploying research, mapping, and community priorities as the driving forces of design.
Projects included an initial “landscape folly” or small scale intervention that addressed multiple landscape issues, an urban design scheme that extended the intervention and rooted it in context, and a final building transformation. The building transformation asked students to radically transform an existing building into a new public space relating to their earlier work and contributing to the community. These three projects emphasized a continuity across scales and challenged the students to apply their design skills to landscape and urban challenges in the context of a real community with a real client. This project produced design concepts that were a continuation of the landscape strategy developed by DCDC, linking teaching and practice.
beyond the public square
Public Interest Design Vertical Studio, Fall 2016
University of Detroit Mercy
This studio focused on the implications and variations of public space in Detroit neighborhoods. The premise tied closely to the underpinnings of the DCDC, which endeavors to create spaces for all Detroiters. Understanding how people use public space and what makes neighborhood spaces truly public is essential to this work. Projects were rooted in Detroit neighborhoods and corresponded the recent Venice biennale project sites, inviting students to critically respond to that work.
Studio projects included a warm up viewing platform investigating how we view and use public space and diagramming deep dive into the use, form and experience of public space in the focus neighborhoods. The final indoor-outdoor public space design asked students to rethink conventional programs as new opportunities for public space and use design to take a position on what public space means in Detroit neighborhoods.
corktown coffer
2nd Year Design Studio, Fall 2013
University of Detroit Mercy
This second year studio marks the first building students tackle in the UDM architecture curriculum. The “Corktown Coffer” is a credit union and residential mixed use project rooted in a Detroit neighborhood. Students were encouraged to gain intimacy with the Corktown location at the heart of the City and develop a design that responded to the site and community context. Students were asked to consider the specific needs of a range of clients, including Theo the Community Developer, Anette the Foodie and Clement the Baker, all while honing basic architectural skills and exploring building design within an urban context.
