Detroit Cultural Center Planning Initiative – Student Design Summit

The Student Design Summit is a complementary component of the Detroit Cultural Center Planning Initiative (CCPI) that engages students in contemporary design practice and community involvement. Each Design Summit is accompanied by a Student Design Competition to give high school and university students in the State of Michigan an opportunity to re-conceptualize spaces in need of innovative design solutions.

Students work together in teams and are provided with resources, networked with professionals, and use the competition to elevate their skills and develop new ones. The Summit also includes talks with design professionals and guidance on masterplan development.

The theme for this year’s Student Design Competition is Designing for Digital Transformation. Even before COVID-19, Detroit’s cultural institutions demonstrated an appetite for developing cross-cutting digital strategies and programs to enhance their missions and attract new audiences with compelling content and engagement. The pandemic further compelled cultural institutions to increase their online activities, to provide a vital connection to the audiences they serve. This crisis made us acutely aware that a robust digital strategy entails much more than simply adding content online. It requires a fundamental understanding of the relationship we want to have with our audiences, of digital skills, platforms, and opportunities.

We are looking for innovative visions that catalyze digital transformation for Detroit’s Cultural Center. Ideas should be anchored in digital inclusion, and designed to integrate our core values and beliefs while promoting the excellence, and cultural vibrancy our cultural institutions are recognized for.

A jury will choose one (1) overall winner and two (2) runner-up winners.

• 1st Prize: $2,500 USD
• 2nd Prize: $1,000 USD
• 3rd Prize: $1,000 USD

>>> Go to the competition’s website <<<