Christian-Unverzagt_Detroit: The Grotesque from HAA on Vimeo.
Detroit: The Grotesque (and other projects).
On April 13th, local designer and University of Michigan professor, Christian Unverzagt, gave a compelling lecture summarizing his Detroit design work. Divided directly down the middle, Christian inadvertently described his work using a split personality analogy, first illustrating his architectural pedagogy through multiple student projects and then following with his professional work through M1/dtw.
After finishing his graduate degree at SCI-Arc, Christian returned to Detroit, almost immediately teaming up with another local designer in order to form M1/dtw. Built upon a design/build philosophy, M1/dtw initially focused on perfecting the fine details of furniture design and small scale architectural interventions. Whether a conference desk or a complementary room divider, each project was an exploration of innovative materials, built in house, and very specific to client and space. With the completion of each project, the subsequent projects increased in scope, always building upon their initial design/build philosophy and intimate client relationships. With the 6 salon in Royal Oak, M1/dtw designed an entire salon persona, branding the salon through multiple scales: font selections, graphic design, identity, signage, furniture design, interior layout, etc. Subsequently, his firm has mimicked this identity creation process with multiple agencies, again always specific to client, each project unique in the final designs.
While Christian’s pedagogical approach to studio work is quite similar to his professional work (focused on graphic representation, tuned to fine details, etc), the student’s final products exist amongst a different realm of design, speaking largely to the city and urban scale. In one studio, he instructed the student’s to analyze the city of Detroit by photographing existing signage and then manipulating these individual images into an overall graphic thesis. When viewed en masse, these projects produce a diverse overview of the city, even slightly suggesting possibilities for future urban interventions. In another studio, his students focused on the decay of signage and lettering throughout the city. In totality, this second set of projects revealed an intimate history of the city by beautifully documenting Detroit specific urban transitions.
The influence of Detroit. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the presentation was witnessing his personally perceived dichotomy of his own work. On a professional level, his firm is much more comfortable working at smaller scales, building a regional reputation upon understanding his clients unspoken needs and translating these needs into beautifully unique identities/design. However, his university work lives within a larger urban realm, blurring the boundaries between urban design and urban anthropology.
Obviously, both sides of his design personalities are severely influenced (if not directed) by the city of Detroit and its economic conditions. This common thread weaves all Detroit designers together, either forcefully (or subconsciously) demanding a multi-scalar approach to a diverse set of design processes.
