Dich2otomy from HAA on Vimeo.

As part of the Detroit Design Festival presented by the Detroit Creative Corridor Center, rogueHAA has installed “Dich2otomy” an architectural installation inside Lafayette Greens Urban Garden. It will be open during the remainder of the Detroit Design Festival.

“Waters are spring and origin, the reservoir of all the possibilities of existence; they precede every form and support every creation.”-Mircea Eliade

Waters in their various states are imbued with deep symbolic significance as well as cultural, economic and physical necessity. In whatever form or context, waters invariably retain their greatest natural function; they disintegrate, abolish forms; they are at once purifying and regenerating. This installation seeks to position itself at the center of this tenuous duality of city and nature by celebrating the intricate and ever-changing relationship between the two. The constructed threshold provides a lens through which both historic city and natural environment are simultaneously reflected and distorted, challenging the viewer to engage with these changing layers of complexity.

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Cass Park Spit & Shine. Join us for a morning of site improvements to Cass Park, including weeding, pruning, general maintenance, and furniture assemblage.  Learn about the history of Cass Park.  Stay for a special surprise appearance at the end of the work day.  Following the morning’s activities, lunch will be served to all volunteers.   If you are able to volunteer, please RSVP on the facebook event page or email cassparkdetroit@gmail.com.

Event Details are as follows:

Cass Park (2nd Ave & Temple)
Detroit, MI
Saturday, July 30 | 8am-1pm

Since as early as the 1960’s, there has been a narrow yet persistent thread of architectural design dedicated to inflatable structures. From Rehner Banham’s, Environment Bubble (1965) to the more recent Rem Koolhaas/Cecil Balmond collaboration at the Serpentine Gallery (2007) and Kengo Kuma’s Tea House at the Museum fur Angewandte Kunst in Frankfurt (2008), these bulbous spaces have challenged traditional construction techniques and patterns of occupancy. Without traditional compression supports like walls or columns, the form of these buildings becomes a direct translation of the relationship between the material and air pressure.

At the Amococo installation, this relationship is articulated on a large and complex scale. Architects of Air, a UK based design firm, used translucent vinyl in a range of colors and geometric patterns to create a 10,000 square foot inflatable ‘luminarium’. The designers utilized only natural light through a series of occuli to illuminate the interior spaces. Music streamed throughout the installation, enhancing the sensory experience while mixing with the muted sounds of the world outside. This distinct contrast between the interior and exterior created a dramatic immersive environment which changed throughout the day.

The installation was on view at U of M’s Palmer Field from June 23 through June 26 as part of Ann Arbor’s Summer Festival. However, the installation is part of an international tour so check the designer’s website for their upcoming installations.

Objecthood: Local Artists Respond to the Compuware Art Collection
Featuring artists Corrie Baldauf, Janet Hamrick, Stacey Malasky, Senghor Reid, and Alison Wong. Objecthood opens to the public starting June 9th inside Boutique: A Compuware Gallery, located at 99 Monroe Street, between Farmer and Randolph. The exhibition will be open every Friday until July 8 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

click here for more information

Interlocker

Works by Andy Kem

May 14 – June 11, 2011

Opening Reception:
Saturday, May 14, 7 p.m. – 10 p.m.

In his second solo project at Re:View Contemporary Gallery, artist and designer Andy Kem presents Interlocker, an intimate exploration of the physical act of assembling and creating abstract connections in order to form complex functional pieces.

Kem’s ability to artistically manipulate natural and renewable resources such as Birch Plywood, cork and maple has made him synonymous with Detroit’s legacy as a city where people make things. Emerging at the intersection of art and design, technology, and materials, Kem’s unique aesthetic language is presented in its full expression in his latest exhibit.

Interlocker opens at the Re:View Contemporary’s Exhibitions Gallery on May 14 with a reception from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Re:View is located at:
444 W. Wiilis
Units 111 & 112
Detroit, Mi 48201
(at the Willys Overland Lofts)
Tel: 313.833.9000

Last Sunday marked the opening of Hostel Detroit, the vision of Emily Doerr and the product of the hard work of over 100 volunteers over the last five months. Through a mix of active fundraising and generous donations, Doerr was able to transform the building in North Corktown into an engaging and playful space for travelers seeking an authentic and affordable Detroit experience. The Hostel offers a variety of accommodations, from bunk-beds which were built by hand utilizing reclaimed wood to full and queen size beds in private rooms. There is even an apartment available for month-to-month rental. The layout encourages the social atmosphere of the hostelling experience by providing a large common kitchen and seating area, as well as an internet nook and game room. The walls are adorned with murals designed by local artists and there is a rotating exhibit of local photography on display.

Hundreds turned out for the ribbon cutting Sunday, including State Senator Coleman Young II, Lt. Governor Brian Calley and the Detroit Party Marching Band. The Hostel is the first in Detroit in 15 years, and its supporters believe it will offer an essential alternative to traditional lodging and encourage a wider range of visitors to the city. At the time of the opening, Hostel Detroit was reserved to capacity with more reservations coming in for the upcoming months.

images by Dan Austin

Mapping the Terrain

Works by Emily Duke

April 2 – April 30, 2011

Opening Reception:
Saturday, April 2, 7 p.m. – 10 p.m.

In Mapping the Terrain, sculptor and ceramicist Emily Duke focuses on architecture and systems of order to address her own relationship with the structures she occupies and their relationship to the climate of her surroundings. Duke references elements from construction sites, agricultural buildings, and manufacturing complexes to base her objects. She builds formal compositions coupling true right angles with shrunken scale and skewed perspective to present intimacy in structures that are ordinarily massive and complex in our common terrain.

Using the naturally rich color and texture of unglazed clay as her primary material, Duke’s minimal use of additional color allows the forms’ shadows to create depth and emphasize interior space. By simplifying her structures, Duke accentuates patterns of organization and the intersection of lines and creates a sense of delicacy through the combination of linear structure and mass elements.

Emily Duke’s first solo exhibit in Detroit opens at Re:View Contemporary Gallery on Saturday, April 2, with a reception from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Re:View is located at:
444 W. Wiilis
Units 111 & 112
Detroit, Mi 48201
(at the Willys Overland Lofts)
Tel: 313.833.9000

http://www.roguehaa.com/descours-2010-dich2otomy/

Over the next two weeks, a group from HAA will be participating in Descours 2010 along with 14 other design groups from around the world. The event is hosted and coordinated by the AIA New Orleans and is free and open to the public. As a way of expanding the boundaries of the installation beyond 1000 St. Charles Ave, we have established a page to host video, photos, notes, thoughts, rants, and overall documentation of the work. We will be updating throughout the process, so please check back frequently as the project unfolds. And of course, if you find yourself in the area please spend an evening touring what will be an amazing series of installations.

HAA would like to thank Detroit Tube Products, Airgas, the Digital Fab Lab at U of M, and everyone who has helped realize this project.

inter:section @ Re:View Contemporary Gallery

Works by Coley McLean and Simone DeSousa

November 6 – November 27, 2010

Opening Reception:
Saturday, November 6
7 pm – 11 pm

inter:section presents the latest works by artists Coley McLean and Simone DeSousa, co-founders of the Salt-Mine Studio in Detroit, a multidisciplinary studio including sculpture, painting, design, and fabrication. In this exhibit, McLean and DeSousa use their distinct approaches, McLean primarily in metal sculpture and functional art, and DeSousa in painting, to create unique works that reference their environment and the intersection of their individual works. click here for contact information

For a few days last week, the small urban triangle known as Capitol Park and the surrounding area were radically transformed for the filming of Transformers 3. Piles of rubble, explosions, robots, and a new streetscape were installed as part of director Michael Bay’s elaborate set. This sort of temporary urbanism is becoming more and more common as the Michigan film incentive draws site scouts to the area. In upcoming films, Detroit will be portraying Paris, the Soviet Union, Switzerland, Baltimore, Washington, D.C. and many other U.S. cities. In recent months residents have witnessed rallies by the ‘Peoples’ Liberation Army’, dramatic life of a retired CIA operative, even stumbled upon a rogue NYC subway station at the Guardian Building. While it is exciting to experience the instant gratification of these fleeting installations, we should not to overlook the slow but lasting progress occurring in urban spaces like Capitol Park.

The Capitol Park Improvement Project, which calls for new paving, landscaping, lighting, and signage, has been underway since last year and is nearing completion. The park is bordered by Griswold, Shelby, and State streets and held the first State Capitol Building in 1837 when Michigan gained statehood. The site functioned as a transit hub from 1955 until the recent completion of the Rosa Parks Transit Center. Now the Downtown Detroit Partnership and the city of Detroit’s Downtown Development Authority have joined with the design firm Merz & Associates to return the park to a public greenspace.

Watching the simultaneous development of fast and slow urban interventions in Capitol Park, one wonders if its possible to coordinate the enormous investment involved in the staging of movie sets to lasting urban benefit. How can the creative freedom and imagination that go into these filmic vignettes be incorporated into planning models, and similarly, how can urban development projects partner with film crews to more permanently enhance the environments they engage?