Taubman College

Research, Outreach, and Funding / Research Through Making Grant

Historically, research and creative practice have been constructed as "opposites." This is not an unusual struggle in architecture schools, particularly in the context of a research university. This perceived tension between design and research is indicative of age-old anxieties within the architecture field to understand its nature as an "applied art." Design can be a purely creative activity not unlike creative practices in music and art. In other cases, design can be a purely problem solving activity, not unlike research in engineering and industrial production.

In its third year, University of Michigan Taubman College's Research Through Making (RTM) Program provides seed funding for faculty research, worked on by faculty, students and interdisciplinary experts. Judges included Melissa DeVos, B.S.'04, co-founder, Art Prize; Raymund Ryan, curator, Heinz Architectural Center, Carnegie Museum of Art; Anne Rieselbach, program director, and Gregory Wessner, exhibition director, Architectural League of New York. RTM projects have won awards from outlets including Architect Magazine, American Institute of Architects, and Wood Design & Building Magazine.

Research Through Making Installations:

Presentations: January 20, 2012, 6 p.m.
Location: Taubman College, Auditorium, 2000 Bonisteel Blvd., Ann Arbor

Exhibit Opening and Reception: 7:30 p.m. (immediately following lecture)
University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning
Liberty Research Annex, 305 W. Liberty St., Ann Arbor

Exhibit: Jan. 20 - April 7, 2012, every Friday and Saturday, 2 PM – 7 PM
University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning
Liberty Research Annex, 305 W. Liberty St., Ann Arbor

Glass Cast by Catie Newell and Wes McGee Ruralopolitan Maneuvers / HOUSE 50 Mary-Ann Ray and Robert Mangurian Dirty Work by Neal Robinson
Morphfaux… recovering plaster as architectural substrate by Steven Mankouche, Joshua Bard, and Matthew Schulte Resonant Chamber by Geoffrey Thün, Wes McGee and Kathy Velikov WATERSHED (or) Wrapping Sheds with Water by Maria Arquero and Jen Maigret
Storm Glass by Craig Borum Re:VAULT by Maciej Kaczynski, Wes McGee, and Dave Pigram Hair, Spikes, Cattail, and Turkeyfoot by Vivian Lee
The Stratus Project by Geoff Thün and Kathy Velikov Spontaneous Mutations, Genetic Deletions, Adaptive Environments, and Assistive Technology in the Compression of Developmental Time or Crawling Sticks and Other Architectural Accoutrements, Actants, and Apparatus by Robert Adams Digital Steam Bending by Josh Bard, Steven Mankouche, and Tsz Yan Ng
In Search of the (w)hole by Karl Daubmann The Aurora Project by Jason Kelly Johnson and Nataly Gattegno Spatial Blooms + Here be Dragons by Perry Kulper
Ana-Log Cabin by Keith Mitnick and Mireille Roddier

To view the yearly archives:


2011 Research Through Making Reception