ARCH 662 Thesis Studio Assistant Professors: Maria Arquero (marquero@umich.edu) McLain Clutter (mclainc@umich.edu) Winter 2014 Tuesdays and Fridays 1-6PM
Arch 662, Winter 2015 Assitant Professor Maria Art
Cleveland may be the most American city. Arguably, like no other metropolis, Cleveland has fully sustained the ebbs and flows, booms and busts of the American urban experience. Like many cities in the Unites States, Cleveland first rose to prominence as a center of trade and industry in the latter 19th and early 20th centuries. At one point Cleveland was the fourth largest city in the United States. During this time, the city became an industrial powerhouse, a destination for massive immigration, and an emergent center of culture. Also like many American cities, Cleveland’s prosperity began to falter in the latter half of the 20th century. Divisive racial politics, de-industrialization, population migration, and real estate disinvestment were all among the culprits. And, again like many American cities, today’s Cleveland features many of the hallmark characteristics of neoliberal urbanism. Divested of geographic rationale with the decline of its industrial base, the city competes with others across the nation to attract immaterial economies. The most prominent urban developments in the city in the last twenty years are stadiums, experiential museums and waterfront attractions all intended to capture the tourist or suburbanite. And, more recently, formerly working class neighborhoods have becoming fashionable, attracting gentrification by young professionals. Indeed, the city’s history in-brief reads like a summary of typical American urbanization at-large. Today, Cleveland is neither large nor small, neither exceptionally cosmopolitan nor provincial. Its blight is substantial, but does not rival Detroit. Its enclaves of vitality are extant, but not expansive like Chicago. All this makes Cleveland both exceptional, and at times exceptionally beige. Accordingly, Cleveland is both a fitting locus of speculation for American cities, and a fitting exemplar of anywhere ennui-urbanism. Following the now famous election year adage, as goes Ohio, so goes the nation. Supported by a University of Michigan Transforming Learning for a Third Century grant, and in partnership with LANDStudio, a local non-profit organization, this thesis section will use Cleveland as a breeding ground for the study of complex urban phenomena in the Great Lakes Region. This quintessential American city will be used as an instigator for discussion of the most contemporary theory and practice positioning architecture, landscape and urban design relative to American urbanism. The Fall 2014 thesis seminar will include guest presentations from experts on contemporary urbanism from around the country, and field trips to Cleveland and Chicago to meet local scholars, practitioners and other urban actors. The goal of the thesis section will be to breed projects that imagine Cleveland as a city of American Splendor, whatever that means.