Date: 28 November, 2023


Dataset Title: Architecture Prep: Inspiring Budding Architects, Shaping the Future of Cities


Dataset Creators: Salam Rida, Torri Smith


Dataset Contact: srida@umich.edu, smtorri@umich.edu


Funding:  The Michigan–Mellon Project on the Egalitarian Metropolis


Research Overview:
Michigan-Mellon’s renewed Egalitarian Metropolis cycle of funding focuses on the city of Detroit and ways that creative practice and the urban humanities can equitably address urban recovery. In tangible ways, The University of Michigan Architecture Preparatory Program (ArcPrep) is already doing just that: creating a sense of optimism and agency for Detroit public high school juniors interested in design and its affiliated fields. 

Through an intensive, semester-long studio taught by our Mellon Fellows in Architecture, young designers learn to critically discern Detroit’s complex spatial histories as they explore ways to shape the city’s possible futures. The program takes the students’ talents, creativity, and expertise very seriously, nurturing an inclusionary pedagogical model based broadly on egalitarian educational ideals. In the process, we bring together a network of Taubman College faculty and students, Detroit institutions, community and government organizations, and professional enterprises into conversation and collaboration with students. In the past, ArcPrep has partnered with the Detroit Public Library, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Detroit Cultivator Community Land Trust, and the Sidewalk Festival, to name a few. With each partnership, we situated culturally contingent, place-based design exercises for students to directly engage with the city and its leaders.

More information about the Michigan Architecture Preparatory Program (ArcPrep) can be found at https://taubmancollege.umich.edu/academics/pre-college-programs/michigan-architecture-prep/


Methodology:
The data in this deposit are primarily photos (JPEG) and videos (MP4) documenting the studio course. They were taken at various events(?) to be posted onto the Egalitarian Metropolis project site (https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/egalitarianmetropolis/).


Instrument and/or Software specifications: NA


Files contained here: 
-ArcPrep.zip - Subfolders include:
	> Yojairo - .jpg files
	> Materials on EM Web - .docx, .jpg, .pdf files of materials posted on the website
	> Dori Sumtner - .jpg files
	> Cornell x ArcPrep Mellon - .jpg files
	> ArcPrep Interviews - .docx, .jpg, .pdf files of interviews conducted for the project
	> 2020-2021 - .jpeg and .mp4 files
-ArcPrep_EgalitarianMetropolis.html - HTML capture of project page from Egalitarian Metropolis site
-MichiganArchitecturePrep_TaubmanCollege.html - HTML capture of linked project page on Taubman college site (destination page of "ArcPrep" button on Egalitarian Metropolis site)


Use and Access: 
This data set is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license (CC BY-NC 4.0).


To Cite Data: 
Rida, S., Smith, T. Architecture Prep: Inspiring Budding Architects, Shaping the Future of Cities [Data set], University of Michigan - Deep Blue Data. https://doi.org/10.7302/dtrs-mk21