ARCH 509, Section 6

This seminar will explore the re-orientation of neoliberal urban spaces toward an inclusionary, egalitarian, and open-source commons organized around social infrastructure. It is designed to support current Egalitarian Metropolis conversations at Taubman College, specifically those focused on community-driven and institutional cultural spaces such as public libraries in—but not limited to—Detroit. The seminar will rely on a mix of synchronous (hopefully in person) and asynchronous instruction, with co-creation as a particular interest. Students will research case studies of historical and contemporary alternative cultural spaces, maker spaces, artists collectives, and community facilities in the US and abroad, understanding their governance models, financial supports, and relationship to established institutional settings with a focus on how these shape and are shaped by their specific urban environments and architecture. In effect, the course will reimagine how these spaces and infrastructures of democratic engagement and exchange can be reconfigured within a framework of anti-racist, inclusionary design strategies.