The University of Michigan's Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning presents...Detroit's Architectural Imagination: Dequindre Cut.

The US Pavilion at the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale will host The Architectural Imagination, an exhibition of new speculative architectural projects commissioned for specific sites in Detroit but with far-reaching application for cities around the world. The exhibition will emphasize the importance and value of the architectural imagination in shaping forms and spaces into exciting future possibilities. The birthplace of the automobile industry, the free-span factory floor, the concrete paved road, and Motown and techno music, Detroit was once a center of American imagination, not only for the products it made but also for its modern architecture and modern lifestyle, which captivated audiences worldwide. Like many postindustrial cities, Detroit is coping with a changed urban core that for decades has generated much thinking in urban planning. As advocates of the power of architecture to construct culture and catalyze cities, curators Cynthia Davidson and Monica Ponce de Leon will commission twelve visionary American architectural practices to produce new work that demonstrates the creativity and resourcefulness of architecture to address the social and environmental issues of the 21st century.

This presentation, taking place on September 24th at 6 pm, is the first of four The Architectural Imagination roundtable discussions in Taubman College's auditorium. 

Site:
A defined site located on the periphery of Eastern Market on the Dequindre Cut.

Architects:

MARSHALL BROWN, Marshall Brown Projects, Inc., Chicago, IL
Marshall Brown Projects is a versatile architecture studio based in Chicago, specialising in visionary projects for urban environments. Marshall Brown is a licensed architect and urban designer who has worked on several notable projects including the Navy Pier redevelopment , a master plan for Washington Park, and a new pavilion for the Arts Club in Chicago. Brown received Masters degrees in both Architecture and Urban Design from Harvard University where he won the Druker Fellowship for urban design. He is an Associate Professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology College of Architecture, has served on the editorial board of the Journal of Architectural Education, is a board member of the Arts Club of Chicago, and has lectured at the Chicago Humanities Festival, University of Michigan, Northwestern University, the Graham Foundation, Auburn University, and the University of Toronto. His projects and essays have appeared in several books and journals, including Metropolis, The Architect’s Newspaper, Architectural Record, Crain’s, The New York Daily News, Art Papers, The Believer, and New Directions in Sustainable Design. Marshall Brown is also a founder of NEW PROJECTS, the urbanism, art and culture think tank, in collaboration with curator Stephanie Smith. And he was director of the Yards Development WorkShop, designers of the UNITY Plan for the Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn New York. His work has been exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit and Western Exhibitions in Chicago

ANDREW ZAGO AND LAURA BOUWMAN, Zago Architecture, Los Angeles, CA
Zago Architecture is based in Los Angeles. With completedprojects in the US and Korea, its work has appeared inter-nationally in exhibitions, books, professional journals, and reviews. Notable projects include the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD), the Fine Venture Office Tower in Seoul, a design studio facility for Cornell University’s School of Engineering, and Arup’s downtown Los Angeles office. In 2011 Zago Architecture was selected to participate in “Foreclosed:Rehousing the American Dream,” a workshop and exhibition at MoMA.
In addition to the “Foreclosed” project, the firm’s urban projects include the German Federal government complex in Berlin, and the Clean Tech Corridor study for Los Angeles. As part-ner in AKS RUNO, Zago developed Metapolis, an urban plan for central Los Angeles, for the Mayor’s West Coast GatewayCommittee. Architectural works in Detroit include the Detroit Community Pavilion (with Mark Anderson), the Greening of Detroit Pavilion, the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD), and proposals for new buildings in Capitol Park. Additionally, the firm produced XYT: Detroit Streets, whichdeveloped a novel representational technique, and Detroit Corner Banks which cataloged all extant examples of that building type.

MICHAEL MEREDITH AND HILARY SAMPLE, MOS Architects, New York, NY
MOS Architects is a New York based architecture and designoffice founded by principals Michael Meredith and HilarySample. Recent MOS projects include the KrabbesholmHøjskole in Skive, Denmark, the Element House and Visitor Center in Star Axis, New Mexico, and Lali Gurans, an orphanage and community center in Kathmandu, Nepal. MOS has participated in many exhibitions and short-term events, including Legible Pompeii as part of Monditalia for the 2014 Venice Biennale, the 2013 Oslo Architecture Triennial, Aesthetics/Anesthetics at the Storefront for Art andArchitecture (2012), Foreclosed: Rehousing the American Dream at the Museum of Modern Art (2011), and the MoMAPS1 Young Architects Program (2009). MOS’s works are held in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Artin New York, SFMOMA, the Art Institute of Chicago, and theYale University Art Gallery. MOS’s work has been publishedextensively, including Everything All at Once: The Software,Videos and Architecture of MOS, through the Princeton Architectural Press, Beginnings: MOS, through buffallo BOOKS,and the forthcoming MOS: Selected Works, through the Princeton Architectural Press.

Moderators:

McLain Clutter, Assistant Professor, University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning
Amy Kulper, Assistant Professor, University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning