Co-instructor: Gabriel Cuellar
Studio Team: Sai Abhijit Pradhan, Pratibha Dabas, Shreya Vadrevu, Sanjana Jismon, Minghui Li, Jia-Yun Chen, Diana Anda, Zhicheng Liu, Yugal Solanki, Yunan Cai, Sonam Agarwal, Shaoqun Zhao, Alexandra Rees, Huiyuan Xue, Jonathan Levitske, Yufei Tang
This design-research studio aimed to advance spatial justice through new property relations in Southeast Michigan (SE-MI), a region home to over five million people, including Detroit, its suburbs, and surrounding townships. The studio used urban design to address the infrastructural conditions and underlying dynamics of the territory, traditionally shaped by non-designers. By examining real property—the socio-legal institution of land division—students observed, interpreted, and engaged with this vast and diverse geography. This approach allowed the studio to confront the region's racialized and uneven social landscapes, addressing the systems behind political and environmental disparities.Additionally, the studio drew on local property practices and spatial cultures that embodied collectivity and solidarity. By taking an optimistic stance, the studio explored how property could be transformed to promote interdependence and justice, guiding the region's land practices away from the status quo. Through this work, students learned to design strategies that supported spatial justice and sustainable development in Southeast Michigan.