THE COMMUNITY
The Berlage Center for Advanced Studies, 2026
Studio: Thesis, The Community
Site: Southfield, Michigan, U.S.
The Community is a collective thesis project that addresses the transformation of the former Northland Shopping Center in Southfield, Michigan into a mixed-use urban development.
Developed as a collaborative design inquiry, the project brings together architectural research, urban strategy, and collective authorship to reimagine a site originally designed by Victor Gruen. The proposal engages the historical, social, and spatial conditions of the Northland site, exploring how large-scale commercial infrastructures can be reconfigured into inclusive and adaptable urban environments.
The masterplan is structured around five core design principles that establish a flexible yet coherent framework for spatial development. It promotes spatial equity through a diverse mix of housing types and income groups within a walkable urban structure. A no-zoning approach enables a dense integration of living, working, and care spaces, while an alternative, non-speculative ownership model positions Northland Friends as the coordinating entity in collaboration with the City of Southfield.
The project examines how architectural and urban design can operate as collective practice, combining multiple authorships and media to communicate spatial proposals. Through drawings, models, texts, exhibitions, podcasts, publications, and film, it explores how design processes can be made legible as shared forms of knowledge production.
The outcome takes the form of a public exhibition of the final thesis project, presenting both the collective masterplan and the individual contributions that shaped its development.
This project is created in cooperation with Britt de Schoenmakere, Claire Demeyere, Eleni Magnisali, Imane Amzil, Gabi Stabile and Yingxin Zhang.
Teaching team: Ana Herrerors Cantis, Benjamin Groothuijse, Juan Benavides, Pavel Bouše,Salomon Frausto.