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TheMartin Architecture and Design Workshop (MADWORKSHOP) is aLos Angeles,California-basednon-profitfoundation that offers fellowships and educational programs for artists and designers.
MADWORKSHOP supports educational programs at theUniversity of Southern California,Art Center College of Design and the USI Accademia di Architettura,Mendrisio inSwitzerland. Supported projects include product and fashion design as well as architectural projects.
MADWORKSHOP was first conceived in 2005 when noted Los Angelesarchitect and former A.C. Martin Inc. design principal and co-chairmanDavid C. Martin,[1]FAIA was approached to teach a furniture design studio[2] at theUSC School of Architecture. The hands-on fabrication class generated interest from students and connected with a greater trend in the study of design. This led Martin to create the Furniture Studio at USC School of Architecture, which has become a key staple of theundergraduatecurriculum. The Furniture Studio teaches students how to build andweld, culminating with each student fabricating a full-scale furniture piece. A select number of students with extraordinary designs are awarded MADWORKSHOP fellowships to continue developing their projects with the goal of bringing them to market.
In 2013, David and his wife Mary Klaus Martin sponsored a class at the USC School of Architecture taught by architect and assistant professor R. Scott Mitchell. The course challenged students to design a site-specificpedestrian bridge titled the Arroyo Bridge.[3] The long history of collaborations led David and Mary Martin to establish MADWORKSHOP. Since its inception in 2015, the foundation has supported numerous fellows and projects. The Foundation has also sponsored the USC MADWORKSHOP Homeless Studio as well as the Re-Defining Public Furniture & Fixtures Design course at Art Center,[4] which produced the permanent seating installation,Sanke,[5] atMOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art) in downtown Los Angeles.
The USC Homeless Studio coursework explored the architect's role in helping to solve the Los Angeles homeless crisis. The concept of the Studio was conceived in 2016 by Mary Klaus Martin, co-founder of MADWORKSHOP, and developed in partnership with the USC School of Architecture and USC faculty members R. Scott Mitchell and Sofia Borges. It was driven by the need to address Los Angeles’ rapidly acceleratinghomelessness crisis. The Homeless Studio became a living laboratory where architecture students used the semester to create stackable transitional housing modules, called Homes for Hope. The modules[6] measure 92 square feet and include a bed, a desk, and storage. The modules are set up in groups of 30 units[7] with one shared base unit, which includes a bathroom, living and dining space, and a courtyard. Homes for Hope,[8] the award-winning solution developed in the studio for emergency stabilization housing, won theFast Company World Changing Ideas Award[9] in 2017. In December, 2017, USC faculty members R. Scott Mitchell and Sofia Borges[10] releasedGive Me Shelter,[11] published by ORO Editions, a book detailing the experience of architecture students taking on the homeless crisis in Los Angeles during the MADWORKSHOP Homeless Studio, with a foreword byMayorEric Garcetti.
In September 2017, The MADWORKSHOP Foundation sponsored a redesign of the facade and entrance area of theMuseum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles Grand Avenue location.[12] The MOCA project comprised students who developed a design proposal. Throughout the course, students collaborated with MOCA directorPhilippe Vergne and curatorHelen Molesworth to create the proposal for the museum's plaza.
MADWORKSHOP collaborated withFondo Ambiente Italiano (FAI) to launch the Light and Matter Studio.[13] Designer Riccardo Blumerat worked with students to create an exhibition entitledLight Theaters, inspired by theSacro Monte di Varallo, aUNESCOWorld Heritage Site in the nearby town ofVarese.
