The U.S.A. Pavilion - The Architectural Imagination
Commissioner: Monica Ponce de Leon
Curators: Cynthia Davidson and Monica Ponce de
Leon
U.S.A. The Architectural Imagination, is a unique
curatorial project led by
Cynthia Davidson and Monica Ponce de Leon to produce new speculative
architectural proposals for four sites in Detroit, Michigan.
The 12 projects on display, by
22 American architects, comprise some 250 objects including architectural models,
drawings, collages, and videos. The
home of the automobile, the
free-span factory floor,
and Motown and
techno music, Detroit
once embodied invention. Today the city is coping with dramatic population loss,
desolate neighborhoods, abandoned
buildings, and sharp racial divides. In addressing these problems, Detroit has
the potential to become a
model for other
postindustrial cities facing
similar practical challenges: repurposing empty industrial buildings,
mitigating the effects
of global migration
on the city,
and reinventing previously industrial waterfronts and dormant
infrastructure.
Above.
Mexicantown – A Liminal Blur – Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects.
My Detriot Postcards
“The twenty photographs to
be printed as postcards will help us tell the exhibition visitor short stories
about life in Detroit. These views of the city will complement the work of the
architects at the U.S. Pavilion in Venice.”
Cynthia Davidson
U.S.A.
Twenty images by 18 individuals were selected as winners of My Detriot Postcard
Contest. The 463 entries were reviewed by photographer and sociologist Camilo
Jose Vergara, who has photographed Detroit since 1985, and Davidson. They
looked for photos that were individually striking but, when grouped with the
other winning images, helped tell a larger story about Detroit today.
The U.S.A. Pavilion
Detroit Reassembly Plant
T+E+A+M
The U.S.A. Pavilion
A New Federal Project
Zago Architecture
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