Program: Biomimicry Challenge & Business Plan

Pillar alignment: BIODESIGN

Purpose: Biomimicry adaptation to invent a product design & the business Plan behind the innovation.

Partners: Over 20 partners over the years, including Belle Isle Aquarium, Green Living Science, Michigan Science Center, 

Place: Both at our partners' locations & in-house.

People: All ages over 5 years.

The Burdock Burr started the current discussion on Biomimicry. We have over 900 submissions from the hundreds of youth we have presented to through the Biomimicry Design Dares and the Business Plans behind them. 

Program: DRINKS X DESIGN: Collectives & Choices

Pillar alignment: Voices & Choices

Purpose: Attract attention and uplift the spirits of Design.

Partners: Design Core Detroit, TCL fabricators

People:​Each activation had at least 700 people x 4 events

Drinks x Design provides a chance for creative businesses across the city to open their doors and showcase their work to the public. Attendees come to meet new people, make connections, promote their creative projects, and learn about other initiatives in their community. MM-O-DD built a throne that was over the moon popular.

Program: Biomimicry & Repurpose Fashion

Pillar alignment: BIODESIGN​

Partners: Green Living Science​

Purpose: Engage students to learn about the circular economy and recycling.

People: The high school students were part of a Summer camp with our partner, Green Living Science, which is located at the Recycling Center. The MM-O-DD Fashion Design Challenge comprised the students shopping in the recycling center, creating their pieces, and pitching their business plans to their peers.

Place: At Green Living Science

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Program: Clean The Cut

Pillar alignment: BIODESIGN

Purpose:​ We have taught Biomimicry through the lens of Product Design

Partner: Detroit Riverfront Conservancy. 

Place: Dequinder Cut

People: 300+

Pillar alignment: BIODESIGN

The 3-part session was suggested by a 13-year-old for his soccer team. The all-boys group was challenged to come up with their own unique field and sports equipment inspired by offensive and defensive organisms. They stayed authentic to the superpowers of each animal or insect selected.

Pillar alignment: BIODESIGN

Our partner Detroit Riverfront Conservancy has a massive clean-up which MM-O-DD was a gap-fill for them as we created an inspiration station and shared about Biomimcry.

The MM-O-DD Biomimicry Inspiration Station is a hands-on experiential opportunity where nature's wonders can support innovation! Explore hands-on examples like a tree slab showcasing its age through rings, a fish skeleton revealing the elegance of aquatic design, and a dandelion encased in glass, symbolizing resilience. Each exhibit invites you to connect with the natural world, sparking creativity and new ideas for sustainable and regenerative solutions.

Pillar alignment: BRAINWORXX

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Professional development special edition City of Design Talk featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and cultural critic Robin Givhan! In conversation with Kiana Wenzell, co-director of @designcoredet, Robin Givhan will recount her remarkable career and share insight into her latest book, Make It Ours: Crashing the Gates of Culture with Virgil Abloh.  MM-O-DD was a promo partner.

Pillar alignment: BRAINWORXX

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MM-O-DD Memory Cafe' for Elders & their care-partners.

A memory cafe is a social gathering designed to support individuals with memory loss and their care partners. It provides a welcoming and stigma-free environment for people living with dementia and those who care for them to connect, socialize, and participate in engaging activities. These cafes embrace opportunities for fun, friendship, and a sense of community. The programming will be filled with beautiful questions. These questions are sparked by making new stories in-the-moment collectively by the group attending that day. Design, Dance, Movement with scarves, and Jazz Music Appreciation. Looking at Animals and nature appreciation.

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Pillar alignment: Voices & Choices

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The Discussions In-The-Round are groups of 10-20 people who deep-dive into a subject. This is an image of the first one about Honoring Black Designers connected to Detroit. The result of this evening was the MM-O-DD Research Department Oral History project. Pictured are some of the most iconic people connected to Detroit, including Eric Beaman-Jewelry Designer, Shawna McGee-Fashion Designer, Greg Dunmore- TV personality, Donovan Dewberry, Fashion Designer.

Pillar alignment: Voices & Choices

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The Discussions In-The-Round are groups of 10-20 people who deep-dive into a subject. This listening program was rich with storytelling by the notable Mark Stryker.

Mark Stryker is an author and award-winning arts reporter and critic based in Detroit. His first book, Jazz from Detroit  (University of Michigan Press), was named “Jazz Book of Year” in the 2019 Jazz Times Critics Poll. Stryker covered jazz, classical music and the visual arts for the Detroit Free Press for 21 years from 1995-2016. His many national prizes include two ASCAP Deems Taylor Awards for music writing about bassist Ron Carter and composer Elliott Carter, as well as several reporting awards for coverage of the Detroit Institute of Arts and City of Detroit bankruptcy. Stryker’s second book, Destiny: 100 Years of Music, Magic, and Community at Orchestra Hall in Detroit, was published in fall 2019 by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Stryker also writes the monthly Chronology column for Jazz Times magazine, and he is currently co-producing a film documentary based on Jazz from Detroit. Stryker is a 2020 inductee into the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame. 

Born in Bloomington, Ind., Stryker earned a bachelor’s degree in American history from the University of Illinois and a master’s degree in journalism from Indiana University. He also worked as a jazz saxophonist before turning to a career in journalism. He worked for the South Bend Tribune and Dayton Daily News, before arriving at the Detroit Free Press. He collects jazz and classical records, books (African American literature and culture),  vintage hats, and drinks the finest Old-World wine he can afford.

Pillar alignment: Voices & Choices

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The Discussions In-The-Round are groups of 10-20 people who deep-dive into a subject. This image was during Lux Street Designer Seydehwon's Solo Show.