Wood Stories
Spring 2025
The Makerspace goes to Italy
I’ve written about my work with young people in Detroit in previous newsletters, but this story is taking us to the Venice Biennale - one of the most famous international cultural exhibitions.
The Brightmoor neighborhood has been struggling for decades but was devastated by sub-prime mortgage crisis in 2008 and the subsequent bankruptcy of the city in 2013. The Brightmoor Makerspace is part of an alliance of churches and other organizations trying to bring a sense of community back to the neighborhood. When we asked what our kids at the Makerspace could do to help, they asked for ‘public spaces for healing trauma’. Under the direction of Nick Tobier of the Stamps School of Art at the University of Michigan, we designed and built eight neighborhood pavilions throughout the community.
These are public structures with a distinctive and recognizable shape. Over time, their use has been adapted to suit the needs of their specific locale. Each has taken on a life and purpose of its own.
As an artist and academic, Nick keeps his ear to the ground for grants, competitions and calls for entry. When he saw that the theme for the American exhibit at the Venice Architecture Biennale was “Porch: An Architecture of Generosity,” he submitted the pavilion design “on a lark,” and won! Nick then contacted me and asked if I would help design and build the exhibit.
We are one of 52 recipients in the American Pavillion, including some of the biggest names in architecture. With so many exhibitors, space is extremely limited. (We are each allocated 3 x 2 x 1 feet) Festival organizers encourage us to not send exact models or maquettes, but to use our design as a launchpad to expand on our ideas about community, generosity, and “porchness.” (This is a design exhibition, so we are bound to stumble across words in our brief like ‘porchness’ …or worse, ‘ideation’…shudder!...) Nick and I have been looking at the work of Joseph Cornell for inspiration and have included images, carvings, and poetry from the neighborhood youth with whom we work.
So, if you happen to be in Venice between May and November, come to the Biennale Architettura and see our work. I'll be there for the opening.
Text is from a poem by Perseis Skipper
