Urban Edge Studio Spring 2009

In 2009, the Urban Edge Award was bestowed upon Elizabeth Diller of Diller Scofidio + Renfro. Having a shared interest in expanding conventional definitions of architecture, UWM Assistant Professor Mo Zell teamed with Ms. Diller to lead the Urban Edge Studio II: Installations / Making. Diller Scofidio + Renfro’s temporary installations, having an immediate and direct relationship to their sites and context, served as one of the pedagogical foundations for the studio. The studio culminated with 13 temporary installations scattered across Milwaukee, testing spatial devices within contested, often residual sites. Urban Edge funding provided the sophomore class of 150 architecture students the opportunity to design and build these urban installations. Through a series of hands-on, theoretically grounded construction and installation projects students considered the spatial opportunities in left over, underutilized sites in Milwaukee.