Library Street Collective in Detroit is a Snarkitecture First

Snarkitecture draws its name from The Hunting of the Snark, a Lewis Carroll poem. A recent project, Library Street Collective in Detroit, the firm’s first freestanding gallery, is evidence of that inspo. Situated in the Belt, a downtown alleyway populated with murals and artistic interventions, the ground-floor space occupies 1,600 square feet in the landmarked L.B. King and Company Building from 1911. In its signature reinterpretation of everyday materials, Snarkitecture worked with what was present on-site, namely the facade’s historic brick, to create the key design feature: a portal connecting the alley to the gallery interior that also nods to the notion of a bricked-up window. “The intent is to create a moment of wonder,” co-founder Alex Mustonen says. Carroll would be proud.

A Closer Look at the Facade of Library Street Collective in Detroit