The United States Pavilion at the 15th Venice Architecture Bienniale, entitled The Architectural Imagination, is opening for its six month run this weekend. Curated by Monica Ponce de Leon and Cynthia Davidson, the pavilion highlights 12 architecture firms speculating on four sites in the city of Detroit. Organized by the University of Michigan, the pavilion takes a focused look at a city that has become a popular topic in urban and architectural conversations.
Each of the pavilion’s four rooms is dedicated to one site, with three projects each. The sites include Dequindre Cut/Eastern Market, a triangular city-owned site in Mexicantown, a riverfront site at the US Post Office, and the long abandoned 40 acre Packard Plant.
Each office was given free range to define the program and form of there project. Projects ranged from a governmental district focused on refugee immigration by Andew Zago to a material reclamation plant by T+E+A+M. Each office was given a four-foot-by-eight-foot table on which to present two large scale models. Walls behind each model are dedicated to drawings, renderings, and process work.
The Offices involved include:
A(n) Office, Detroit, Michigan
Marcelo López-Dinardi; V. Mitch McEwen
BairBalliet, Columbus, Ohio; Chicago, Illinois
Kelly Bair; Kristy Balliet
Greg Lynn FORM, Los Angeles, California
Greg Lynn
Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects, Atlanta, Georgia
Mack Scogin; Merrill Elam
Marshall Brown Projects, Chicago, Illinois
Marshall Brown
MOS Architects, New York, New York
Hilary Sample; Michael Meredith
Pita & Bloom, Los Angeles, California
Florencia Pita; Jackilin Hah Bloom
Present Future, Houston, Texas
Albert Pope; Jesús Vassallo
Preston Scott Cohen Inc., Boston, Massachusetts
Preston Scott Cohen
SAA/Stan Allen Architect, New York, New York
Stan Allen
T+E+A+M, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Thom Moran; Ellie Abrons; Adam Fure; Meredith Miller
Zago Architecture, Los Angeles, California
Andrew Zago; Laura Bouwman
