In architecture, research and creative practice are often constructed as opposites. The perceived tension between design and research is indicative of age-old anxieties within the field of architecture as it seeks to understand its nature as an "applied art."

Through a unique grant program at Taubman College researchers challenge that perception. Research Through Making, a competitive grant for faculty now in its fourth year, provides seed funding for a yearlong investigation into the application of design to research. The results of their study are demonstrated in the installations in this exhibition.

"The broad reach of this year's projects – which include considering architecture as an experiment in domesticity, experimenting with structures that are composed to decompose, and articulating urban emptiness – speaks to both the creativity and intellectual rigor that our faculty bring to the fundamental link between design and research," adds Dean Monica Ponce de Leon. "This grant gives our faculty the opportunity to move beyond the traditional approach to architectural research."

Opening presentations of the projects will take place Friday, March 15th at 6:00 p.m. in the Art + Architecture Auditorium of Taubman College located on the North Campus of the University of Michigan. A reception will immediately follow in downtown Ann Arbor at the Taubman College Liberty Research Annex located at 305 W. Liberty Street.

The exhibition will run March 15th – April 21st and will be open weekly Thursday – Sunday from 3:00p.m. – 7:00p.m. The presentations, opening reception, and exhibition are all free and open to the public.

This year's projects from five teams of Taubman College faculty include:

• Electroform(alism): Masters, substrates and the rules of attraction - Jean-Louis Farges and Anya Sirota
• Making Nothing - McLain Clutter and Kyle Reynolds
• (DE)COMPOSING TERRITORY: Enclosure as a negotiation between bioplastics + environments - Meredith Miller
• Crease, Fold, Pour: Advancing Flexible Formwork with Digital Fabrication and Origami Folding - Maciej Kaczynski
• Platform for Architecture & Makin' It, A Situation Comedy - John McMorrough and Julia McMorrough

This year's judges were: Eva Franch i Gilabert, Director, Storefront for Art and Architecture; Michael Meredith, Principal, MOS; Assistant Professor, Princeton School of Architecture; Joe Valerio, Principal, Valerio Dewalt Train Associates.

For more information including details of past Research Through Making projects, visit the Research Through Making page at: taubmancollege.umich.edu/rtm

Electroform(alism): Masters, substrates and the rules of attraction

Making Nothing

(DE)COMPOSING TERRITORY: Enclosure as a negotiation between bioplastics + environments

Crease, Fold, Pour: Advancing Flexible Formwork with Digital Fabrication and Origami Folding

Platform for Architecture & Makin' It, A Situation Comedy