Jeff DeBoer, Vice President, Principal and Chief Innovation Officer of Sundberg-Ferar was recently invited to speak on a panel discussing “The Detroit School”: the idea that a collective creative movement with a distinct “Detroit” vibe is emerging in our city. Similar in kind to the Bauhaus or the L.A. School of Urbanism, the Detroit School is thought by some to be an emerging (real and philosophical) approach to the design of products, human experiences and our City’s built environment.
The panel discussion, held in the beautiful atrium of DCDT, explored Detroit as a unique creative center and fertile soil for the emergence of the aforementioned movement.
Jeff was joined on the panel by moderator Karl Daubmann, Dean and Professor at LTU’s College of Architecture and Design, Michael Poris, Principal at McIntosh Poris Associates, and Colin Tury, Craft and Industrial Product Designer. The event was sponsored by Detroit Is It, an emerging media platform and digital communication lab catalyzing connections within the city, and NEXT: SPACE a leading platform for contemporary studio design.
Moderator Daubmann led the panel in discussing Detroit’s rich history of innovation in art and industry and the many creative endeavors and disruptive ideas that are now originating in Detroit. He posed the question to Jeff about what makes Detroit different from other cities:
“One of many great things about Detroit, and Michigan is you can get almost anything designed and built here, which is a story that needs to be told. Detroit has become like Florence, Italy during the Renaissance. Detroit has a vast network of creative talent from industrial design to interface design to fashion design. As a designer, Detroit is THE place to be today…to live, work and be creative.”
Excitement is evident in every corner of the city. Its many breathtaking spaces and architectural masterpieces are being filled again with makers and entrepreneurs. As artists, designers, startups, and large corporations flock to the city, it is dense with ambition and talent.
Jeff continued; “Detroit has a hard-won reputation of survival that manifests itself in our creative work. Our product design and innovation consultancy, Sundberg-Ferar, gets contacted all of the time by clients that want a certain edginess to their design, and the courage to take chances.”
Perhaps the most defining characteristic of a “Detroit School”, is that it represents unquenchable hope through many hardships- grit, tenacity, perseverance; the world is taking notice.