Search

Idea by

Cyrus Peñarroyo, McLain Clutter, Salvador Lindquist, Reed Miller, Craig Zehr

EXTENTS

http://extents.us

305 W. Liberty St., Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104, United States of America
EXTENTS is a design collaborative that operates across scales and disciplinary silos. We’re interested in architecture, urbanism, media, digital culture, and other instruments of life that can be impacted by design. The collaborative is led by McLain Clutter and Cyrus Peñarroyo, faculty at the University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture + Urban Planning.

Call for ideas 2020

Online/On-site


Urbanism after the Internet

Online/On-site


Urbanism after the Internet
This project explores the effects of uneven internet service provision on urban development.
File under
Type of project
  • Systemic changes

If cities of the future will increasingly be shaped by networked technologies, this mapping-based research and design project – set in Detroit, MI – explores how inequitable access to the Internet could yield alternate patterns of urban development. Detroit has the lowest rate of Internet connectivity in the United States, excluding thousands of people (especially school-aged youths) from the opportunities for education, employment, and belonging afforded to those with the ability to get online. Online/On-site combines publicly available spatial data with information gathered from interviews of local high school students in order to map detailed geographies of digital access and exclusion across Detroit. The project identifies latent opportunities to reimagine the city’s disinvested neighborhoods in ways that enable public assembly and digital interaction, proposing urban design scenarios that are rich with innovative ways to connect physically and virtually.



Composite map showing local resources, internet connectivity, and demographic data that could influence access to digital technology. From this research, three sites were chosen for design speculation.

Site Speculation 1: Converting an existing McDonald’s into a community anchor site that provides computers, tutoring services, and workstations to students that need additional time and resources for their education.

Site Speculation 2: An existing neighborhood is re-envisioned as a network defined by social and cultural programs.

Site Speculation 3: Two existing blocks are developed as a community land trust where property lines are dissolved in favor of shared WiFi and resources.

Screenshot of video showing conversations with Detroit high school students.

Online/On-site


Urbanism after the Internet

Online/On-site


Urbanism after the Internet
This project explores the effects of uneven internet service provision on urban development.
File under
Type of project
  • Systemic changes

If cities of the future will increasingly be shaped by networked technologies, this mapping-based research and design project – set in Detroit, MI – explores how inequitable access to the Internet could yield alternate patterns of urban development. Detroit has the lowest rate of Internet connectivity in the United States, excluding thousands of people (especially school-aged youths) from the opportunities for education, employment, and belonging afforded to those with the ability to get online. Online/On-site combines publicly available spatial data with information gathered from interviews of local high school students in order to map detailed geographies of digital access and exclusion across Detroit. The project identifies latent opportunities to reimagine the city’s disinvested neighborhoods in ways that enable public assembly and digital interaction, proposing urban design scenarios that are rich with innovative ways to connect physically and virtually.



Composite map showing local resources, internet connectivity, and demographic data that could influence access to digital technology. From this research, three sites were chosen for design speculation.

Site Speculation 1: Converting an existing McDonald’s into a community anchor site that provides computers, tutoring services, and workstations to students that need additional time and resources for their education.

Site Speculation 2: An existing neighborhood is re-envisioned as a network defined by social and cultural programs.

Site Speculation 3: Two existing blocks are developed as a community land trust where property lines are dissolved in favor of shared WiFi and resources.

Screenshot of video showing conversations with Detroit high school students.


Idea by

Cyrus Peñarroyo, McLain Clutter, Salvador Lindquist, Reed Miller, Craig Zehr
EXTENTS
305 W. Liberty St.
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104
United States of America
EXTENTS is a design collaborative that operates across scales and disciplinary silos. We’re interested in architecture, urbanism, media, digital culture, and other instruments of life that can be impacted by design. The collaborative is led by McLain Clutter and Cyrus Peñarroyo, faculty at the University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture + Urban Planning.