Instructors: Craig Borum + Claudia Wigger
Location: Detroit, MI
Program: Collective Housing for Artists
Term: Spring 2025 (graduate semester 2)
In collaboration with Amely Wackerbauer and Jason Loeb
This design for a living + working space for artists reimagines the way we live together. The project is located in Detroit’s East Village neighborhood which faces issues of low-density; this particular site faces the Shepherd, a church turned into an art gallery. Given this, our project proposes a reimagination of the neighborhood as part of an artistic pilgrimage, providing not only artist living space but also working areas and opportunities for public engagement with artwork.
Inspired as a subversion of a townhouse model with barriers between units broken down in key areas for collective use, the design was configured such that a “slice” through the building would provide the necessary programs. The first floor consists of public gallery and cafe spaces as well as family living apartments with more in-unit amenities, while the third floor provides units aimed toward individual artists. These units consist of a modest bed and bathroom, encouraging residents to participate in the collective living model. The second floor has studio, gallery, and double-height workshop spaces, while the fourth floor provides communal kitchen, living, dining, and rooftop courtyard spaces.