ARCH 672 - PROPOSITIONS + UD 732 STUDIO III
FALL 2024PROJECTS
Brianna Westbrook, Michael Katsamakis, Chang Chu - RE-MEDIATED GROTTO
Adapt UP
Michigan has garnered media attention as a potential "climate haven," a refuge for those seeking respite from the intensifying impacts of climate change within the United States. Yet, the Upper Peninsula—representing 30% of the land area and home to only 3% of the state’s population—remains largely absent from these discussions. With its humid continental climate, rocky terrain with rolling hills, expanses of contiguous forestland, and redeveloping infrastructure, the Upper Peninsula poses unique challenges and opportunities that have yet to be fully explored. This studio offers a chance to re-imagine the Upper Peninsula, not just as a destination for domestic climate migrants, but as a region where design can thoughtfully respond the necessities of a changing world while integrating the needs of diverse species, infrastructures, and cultural practices.The studio will take a multifaceted approach to envisioning the future of the region, exploring design interventions at multiple scales and through various lenses. From the redefinition of traditional homes and residential units to the design of ritual sites connected to afterworlds, from the re-imagining of transportation infrastructures to the creation of spaces for companion species, and from the revitalization of resource-rich areas like copper mines to innovative agricultural practices—we will engage in a comprehensive rethinking of what it means to design for a changing climate in the Upper Peninsula.
This course then, will use the detail as a site of investigation to intersect the expression of techno-performative issues of climate and building science with the formal agendas of popular culture vernaculars and futurisms.