MPA alum part of winning team to reimagine Detroit’s Arts and Cultural District

June 12, 2019

Cézanne Charles (MPA ’15) joined forces with three U-M faculty members as part of a team to develop a new plan that will unite 12 cultural and educational institutions in Midtown Detroit. Charles is the co-director of rootoftwo, a hybrid design studio based in Ann Arbor.

The design project, titled “Detroit Square,” was selected out of 44 submissions from 10 countries. In addition to Charles the team includes Anya Sirota, associate professor of architecture at Taubman, Harley Etienne, assistant professor of urban at regional planning at Taubman, John Marshall, associate professor at Stamps and Taubman, Jean Louis Farges of Akoaki, and internationally-renowned landscape and ubrna design studio Agence Ter, based in France.

The team will begin now an 18-month conceptual planning process. The project is estimated to be completed in seven to 10 years.

The news was featured on U-M’s Detroit site, as well as in the Detroit Free Press, and BroadwayWorld.com.

Photo Credit: Daryl Marshke, Michigan Photography.