CCS

Founded in 1906, the Detroit Society of Arts and Crafts dedicated itself to keeping the ideals of beauty and craftsmanship alive in an indus­trialized world—in their words, to “encourage good and beautiful work as applied to useful service.” In 1933 the Society made national news by recognizing the automobile as an art form. Today, now named the College for Creative Studies, the school educates painters, sculp­tors, illustrators, film makers and automotive designers. With a project totaling $145,000,000, the College has redeveloped the historic Argonaut Building as a second campus. The Argonaut Building was the original design studio of Harley Earl at GM and now houses graduate design, research studios in the design fields, and a charter high school with a special focus on art and design.

The Argonaut has already found its place in architectural history. Now, LUCE et Studio has injected a creative character and ‘edge’ to this adaptive reuse project. LUCE has employed the innovative design strategies fine-tuned for the Nissan Studios in Detroit. Rather than an institutional approach to architecture, the team has adopted an approach that best expresses the identity and philosophy of this innovative design school. The crux of this assignment was to question how one best experiences the sequence of studios, labs and classrooms in this huge building, maintaining an environment that continually inspires and nurtures its students. Designing for the creative mind is a different task than most, where very specific creative space is married with technology.

Within the historic structure of the original GM Design Building Downtown Detroit, LUCE designed the academic educational facilities for 500,000sf of space. Schools of Graphic Design, Automotive Design, Interior Architecture, Advertising and Fine Arts coexist and share classrooms, studios and collaborative demonstration spaces. Unlike traditional schools of design, departments are encouraged to seek interdisciplinary study. On the 11th floor, Harley Earl’s design office was transformed into a conference center and presentation theater. The space is used by each department and rented by Detroit institutions for major events including the Detroit Auto Show. A historic building now has a new life; infused with a creative program. This entire project houses the College, a Charter High School and numerous shared public functions.

Our work at The Taubman Center for Design Excellence at the College for Creative Studies highlights our passion for breathing new life into an existing iconic structure. Within the historic structure of the original GM Design Building Downtown Detroit, LUCE designed the academic facilities for 500,000sf of space. Schools of Graphic Design, Automotive Design, Interior Architecture, Advertising and Fine Arts coexist and share classrooms, studios and collaborative demonstration spaces. Unlike traditional schools of design, departments are encouraged to seek interdisciplinary study. On the 11th floor, Harley Earl’s design office was transformed into a conference center and presentation theater. The space is used by each department and rented by Detroit institutions for major events including the Detroit Auto Show. A historic building now has a new life; infused with a creative program. This entire project houses the College, a Charter High School and numerous shared public functions.