Challenging Detroit's Design Discourse". This bi-monthly lecture series
will begin in June and continue through the end of 2012. Each panel
discussion will invite local, regional, and national figures to discuss what
makes Detroit provocative. Set in a variety of under-utilized, contested,
and historically charged spaces throughout our city, each event seeks to
challenge the participants through candid discourse and direct engagement of
the built environment. It is the aim of each panel discussion to explore
new urban strategies that promote social equity and advocacy. We believe
good design (and good design discourse) is a proactive and critical act,
toeing the line between conflict and resolution. While each event exists
for only a moment, the entire series will provide a lasting catalogue of
constructive dialogue, informing Detroit's shared creative consciousness.
An onslaught of recent international catastrophes and dogged economic strife
has begun to teach the broader design community empathy, compassion, and
perhaps, selflessness. These reactions have bettered a majority of the
profession and fundamentally transformed recent design graduates. Not
coincidentally, the market for super-starchitecture is waning. The
profession has gravitated toward social equity, conscientious investment,
and advocacy.
An alternate mode of practice is on the horizon. Current moods are shifting
towards a more aggressive "public". One that passionately argues or fights
for what they want, for what they believe in. Instead of waiting for a
catalytic trigger to better their environment, the public is forcing our
hands and demanding to be heard. Egypt... Tea Party... Robocop statues...
The design profession is following suit by becoming less reactive in the
name of the "public" and more proactive towards producing socially-conscious
design. Sometimes provocative discourse wavers between conflict and
solution, but the found space in between can foster a unifying trajectory,
allowing everyone to take control of our shared design destiny.
So, we ask you.who's looking for a fight?
We would like to invite you to our June event, "AWAKENINGS: WHO is Detroit's
design public? WHO are you designing for? WHO are you fighting for?"
EVENT 01 - AWAKENINGS:
Panel Discussion
June 28, 2011
6:00 - 8:00 pm
2:1 Gallery
1480 Gratiot Ave, Detroit
Reception to follow
8:00 - 9:00 pm
Participants presenting in the "AWAKENINGS" panel discussion include:
· Margarita Barry, Founder + Publisher of I AM YOUNG DETROIT, Founder of 71
POP
· Matt Clayson, Director of Detroit Creative Corridor Center
· Eleanore Eveleth, Community Development Program Manager of Data Driven
Detroit
· Megan Heeres, Art Curator + Community Garden + Arts Program Manager of
Compuware Corporation
· Sarah Szurpicki, Director of Great Lakes Urban Exchange (GLUE)
lecturesHAA is an urban advocacy initiative of rogueHAA.