This course will examine contemporary and experimental approaches to preservation and archiving in architecture, and will ask students to think critically about the potential application of these techniques in cities like Detroit, where a history of reliance on demolition and urban renewal has resulted in the loss of collective memory embedded in demolished buildings and neighborhoods. A preservationist approach shifts the narrative from one of market-driven urban renewal to one that emphasizes the importance of memory and community history. With preference towards Carlo Ginzburg’s concept of microhistories, how does one memorialize or monumentalize an individual home, or a neighborhood?
The course will give students the opportunity to explore the above topics through lectures, directed research, and guided experimentation in drawing and various media. Additionally, we will engage with existing practitioners and community organizations working in the realm of archiving and preservation in Detroit (and other US cities). Through this engagement, students will learn about the relationships between architecture and public memory and between social action and historic preservation.
