A first look at our new project in Little Village, Detroit.
This design explores our idea of ‘Formal Instability’—what if a building didn’t feel locked into a single shape, but instead shifted depending on where you stand?
From one view, it feels low and stretched across the site. From another, it snaps into the simple, familiar outline of a house—like something you might have drawn as a kid.
A structure that resists finality—alive and in motion, always becoming as you move through the city. #DMrat
Long Island Courtyard House. Feels like we just broke ground. Client’s in. Planting’s down. Punchlist ahead. Still need to find a photographer. Can’t wait to watch the courtyards come to life as the greenery fills in.
#DMjas
#courtyardhouse
#southampton
We helped an art collector and curator conceptualize a new space for art and hospitality in Detroit's Corktown neighborhood. The result is the MLXL Arts Compound, which is comprised of the adaptive reuse of an existing brick building from the 19th or early 20th century and a new build on the empty lot next door.
The name "MLXL" refers to the scale of gallery spaces that have been designed to allow a large degree of flexibility in the presentation of artwork. The variety of gallery spaces is reflected in the three-tier elevation as seen from the street.
#DMcas #adaptivereuse
Construction Fictions: RFIs as Images
Generated directly from the construction document model for our Long Island Courtyard House (#DMjas), these images were originally produced as part of field RFIs and coordination with the GC. Removed from their technical context, they begin to operate somewhere between construction document, rendering, and architectural fiction.
Recently exhibited in Pratt Institute’s / @prattsoa “Levers Long Enough.”
Special thanks to Andrew Holder / @andrewjamesholder for the invitation.
After helping Milk & Froth (@milkandfrothicecream ) transition from a food truck to their first brick-and-mortar in downtown Detroit, we teamed up again for their Ann Arbor expansion.
The ASCII-inspired language continues—but here, a new element takes over: a large red wall.
Visible from the street and dominant once inside, the wall becomes both backdrop and organizer—carving out niches for seating and service through openings of varying scale.
Our favorite flavor? Still debating between Black Sesame and Matcha Pistachio. #DMmfa #DMmfd #icecreams
📷: @johndangelophoto
Everyday Works / 02 – Simple Bench
A bench built from plain-sawn Douglas fir with milled-aluminum lids that open to reveal hidden storage.
Quiet, practical, and honest in its construction.
Part of an ongoing furniture series by Dash Marshall — DM us for inquiries.
Designed by @dashmarshall
Fabricated and photographed by @donutshop.design
Everyday Works / 01 – Towel Rack
A stainless-steel rack inspired by chain-link fencing, reinterpreted with adjustable shelves for adaptable storage.
Part of our Everyday Works furniture series — DM us for inquiries.
Designed by @dashmarshall
Fabricated and photographed by @donutshop.design
We are delighted to announce that Ritchie Yao has been hired as a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Architecture.
Ritchie is the co-founder of Dash Marshall (@dashmarshall ), a Brooklyn- and Detroit-based architecture and strategic design studio. His teaching and research explore two interconnected areas: Domestic Futures, which investigates housing innovation and adaptability in the face of climate change, affordability challenges, and shifting demographics; and Civic Futures, which focuses on community-driven, adaptive reuse projects that serve the public good.
At RISD, Ritchie teaches undergraduate and graduate studios that extend his research into the classroom, challenging students to rethink how architecture can address social, economic, and environmental challenges through spatial and typological innovation.
Previously, Ritchie taught at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and practiced at OMA and Adjaye Associates. His studio, Dash Marshall, was recognized as a Next Progressive by Architect Magazine in 2020 and listed among AN Interior’s top 50 firms for 2020 and 2021. He holds an M.Arch I AP with Distinction from Harvard GSD and a BSE in Environmental Studies from the University of Waterloo.
Image Descriptions:
1: Film Residency Studio, Little Village, MI (Photo credit: Dash Marshall)
2: Film Residency Studio, Little Village, MI (Photo credit: Dash Marshall)
3: Detroit Courtyard House (Photo credit: Jason Keen)
4: Detroit Courtyard House (Photo credit: Jason Keen)
5: Long Island Courtyard House (Photo credit: Lettieri Construction)
6: Long Island Courtyard House (Photo credit: Dash Marshall)
7: MLXL Arts Compound, Detroit, MI (Photo credit: Dash Marshall)
8: Detroit Public Theatre (Photo credit: Michael Vahrenwald)
9: Detroit Public Theatre (Photo credit: Michael Vahrenwald)
Construction in progress on our Long Island #CourtyardHouse. #DMjas
From the front, this house reads as two simple gabled forms. From the back, they merge into one.
That shift—familiar at first, unexpected from another angle—is part of how we like to play with form and perception.
GC: @lettieri_construction
