{ Transgression }

This is how the hydrocraft will work.

3D print is underway!

We spent a large proportion of our time cutting out different sized nets for our boxes. We decided to use thick, double-walled cardboard as this was not only widely available to us for free, but also a very durable material. Therefore the boxes are less likely to get damaged in a busy public place.

Replaced the floors and columns with MDF boards, our model looked a lot more stable and rigid. We spray painted it white to avoid too many colours overwhelming other features in the plan.

On the fifth day, the group worked on the final presentation model. The interior concept was based on the rope and pulley system, which was a bit tedious to create on a 1:50 model. The outdoor space, the balcony, was were the vertical zoning idea was based on. The initial model was not that ideal to represent the idea, hence I had to refine it.

In order to promote the event, each group had to create a poster based on the topic of their film. This was one of our first attempts.

As previously mentioned, our concept is based on open space, of which there is plenty of in Piccadilly Gardens. We specifically chose a space with rows of trees, so our final model can sprawl from tree to tree in an organic style.

Pulling it all together! Final morning gathering together our booklets and organising our presentations.

One of the most interesting parts of the project, for me, was interacting with a real client. Some interesting feedback that Ian gave was that although the appearance of the building needs to fit the surroundings due to specific planning regulations, the design should still look original and exciting due to the 'exhibition' nature of the project as a whole.

Spaceport Exhibition Set Up. Posters made only with pen and paint.

Spaceport Exhibition Set Up. Final Sketch with context.

Spaceport Exhibition Set Up. Initial Sketch.

On the fourth day we had to refine and present our ideas to the fifth years and a member of the Z- Arts Gallery. Later on, we were divided into groups to collaborate our ideas into the space.

Doing site research round the back of the Arndale.

Day 2 Sketch Walk: 15 second sketch on Market Street.

Day 2 Sketch Walk: Market Street and Surroundings.

The third day was dedicated to finalizing and presenting our initial ideas for the gallery. The key focus was on safety and creativity as Saskia was concerned about the heavy furniture the kids had to work with. My initial ideas were modular furniture and vertical zoning.

Day 2 Sketch Walk: Piccadilly Gardens and surroundings.

After discussing our individual ideas as a group, we decided to focus our project around cubic boxes - a versatile and simple shape. The concept for the final outcome was presented in a model, with the aim of covering an open walkway with various boxes.

DAY 8//Editing, editing and more editing

We spent our day at Kim by the sea, a nice little bar/cafe not far away from our venue for Friday's exhibition. The biggest part of our short film - trimming and putting all the clips together - was finished, so we were left to do the details: adding transitions between the clips and music.

ON THE THURSDAY THE PUBLIC GOT INVOLVED WITH OUR INSTALLMENT AND IT WAS A SUCCESSFUL DAY!

FUN!!!

During the last week I had put together two A2 presentation boards with the most significant work on ready to present on Friday.

FUN!!!

FUN!!!

FUN!!!

Day 1 Sketch Walk: Town Hall and surroundings.

Before exhibiting and presenting our events work I had watched a couple of other event group presentations and was really inspired by the work they produced, next time I would like to implement some of the ideas they had for their process they went through into my work. I liked how every group approach their event with a different solution.

FUN!!!

Final day! Pre-presentation selfie! Really glad I chose Merz 15 for this years events as everyone in the group was really enthusiastic and especially enjoyed interacting with the client.

FUN!!!

_DAY THREE_
We further developed our idea into a modular system of pods based on the standard pallet size, so we could fit the pods into a 7.5 ton truck. Once the Cornerhouse is appropriated by MMU, the truck system will allow us to set the shelter up in another of Manchester's many neglected spaces.

Day 1 Sketch Walk: Central Library and surroundings.

Michael Mayhew is an artist who was part of the group Dogs of Heaven which put the spectacular show for the End of The Crescents. Having lived there, during that period, he gave us a lecture on the history of the crescents. We learnt that at the beginning they were considered an utopian project meant to revolutionize the concept of housing for families, but in the end they became exactly the opposite. At the end of the lecture we had a brainstorming session where we started developing the storyboards for our films, under his superivison.

Day 5
Buzzing for the return of Ian where we presented our ideas to him! We spent the rest of the day trying to create a script and a few slides for our Friday presentation

Final review

After being given the brief to create 'playful architecture', I researched various precedents in books to do with playgrounds and recreational space.
My favourite idea was that of a sloping pathway - perhaps one that people can jump/climb over.

Day 9. Filled a minibus with nets of boxes and transported them to site ready for assembly.

Our ideas culminated in the projection of 6 transgressive themes onto different sized hanging pieces of paper with the projector concealed beneath a chair in the corner of the room. It added interest to an otherwise unused space and encouraged movement through the area rather than around it. It proved to be very interactive with passers-by.

_DAY TWO_
Drawing on our outside work with the homeless at Narrowgate Shelter, we were inspired to create a temporary homeless shelter installation.

Feedback after the presentation

We made a further model, showing the section of the church with the altar at 1:20, in order to highlight the altar as an 'anchor point' for all the string, which would encourage visitors to approach it.

Digital Hook Detail. The steel hooks are used to assist the creepers and other plants attaching to the sandstone walls of the existing ruin.

_DAY ONE_
We met the design group and split into pairs. We explored the concepts of appropriation through installation, intervention and insertion. We looked at installations across the world for ideas. We decided on a light-touch minimal installation as the Cornerhouse is already earmarked for future projects.

ON THE THURSDAY THE PUBLIC GOT INVOLVED WITH OUR INSTALLMENT AND IT WAS A SUCCESSFUL DAY!

Photo from the final review. Each group presented what they had done over the last two weeks. It was a good chance to compare the four approaches.

Final Day: Presentation and our lovely small group picture (without Karolina sadly).

INSTALLATION DAY

This was the big day! We crammed all the nets into a taxi, which drove them to Piccadily, where we had to carry them right across the centre, gaining much needed attention. We then began setting up and instantly drew a crowd of people! There were old, young, very young, men, women, smart, scruffy and even a news reporter from the Evening Standard! :D The day was a great success and I had a lot of fun, and im pretty sure the Piccadily public did too!

The final stages of film development were interesting as we had to make use of new kinds of software in order to edit the images, footage and sounds that went into the final film.

Days 5-8. After establishing a plan, we collectively created approximately 60 cardboard boxes. We decorated them with materials, words, grids for board games and installed certain boxes with wind chimes.

First time fabricating with laser cut acrylic sheets, trail and error. :)

Today was our last day of Events. We have presented our scheme and we've explained to our tutors what was our main goal. We have received positive feedback and I think that, overall, it was a successful project.

Day 4
At the start of the second week, we collated our ideas together and I spent the day trying to hack photoshop as I thought this would be a great time to explore it. We worked on polishing up our presentations for Ian the next day.

A visit to the Homes for Care exhibition space helped us plan out how we wanted to display our films.

ON THURSDAY WE HAD TO TRANSPORT THE NETS TO PICCADILLY GARDENS, THIS TOOK TWO TAXI'S AND A LOT OF EFFORT FROM THE GROUP. ONCE WE GOT THERE WE HAD TO ASSEMBLE THEM ON SITE.

WE HAD TO THEN MAKE THE NETS INTERACTIVE BY PUTTING PLAYFUL THINGS ON THEM. WE DECIDED ON CHALKBOARDS FOR DRAWING, FABRIC FOR TEXTURE, CHIMES FOR SOUND AND CHESS AND CHECKER BOARDS FOR PLAY.

Day 3
Back in the studio, the residential aspect which was initially 2 static caravans developed into 4 different elements: statics, a bothy, a library and an amphitheatre. I really enjoyed this session brainstorming with the other 3 in my group where we researched precedences and soaked up each others ideas. By the end of this session, we divided up the residential areas (I got the bothy) and we made a site plan of the residential area.

We developed on our initial story board and came up with a more clear understanding of how we wanted our video to progress.

This is the final physical model with four individual facades at the bottom, and our presentation board containing our concept and working process.

Day 12: More images of physical model to illustrate the atmosphere we intended to create.

DAY - 8

This was just a quick meeting at 2 to finalise plans for the installation tomorrow. I looked into hiring a man-in-a-van but it was too short notice, so we decided on booking a taxi. We also talked about taking cameras and recording the process as best we could, and then looked forward to the experience we would be having tomorrow!

Michael Mayhew, who was an artist that took part in the End of Crescents bonfire, organised by dogs of heaven, gave us a lecture on his memories of the area and spoke to us about our film ideas. He encouraged us to develop our ideas by drawing and writing out thoughts out on the wall.

Day 11: Captured a beautiful picture with the physical model we made, this image in particular express the display of fragments of what would have been destroyed within the church being suspended from the ceiling.

Initial sketch of my concept for the first meeting after the site visit. The proposal revolves around the idea of procession and freezing the moment of the collapse. Olafur Eliasson's installations were one source of inspiration.

Day 2
Really enjoyed the trip to Windermere but most of all enjoyed meeting Ian who is just inspiringly enthusiastic about the whole concept. His ideas were just forever expanding and developing and his passion was just brilliant.

Day 3. We rejoined as a collective group to discuss ideas and decided to progress with the initial idea of multiple boxes to inhabit the space.

We also had a tour of the Hulme Hippodrome, a legendary place where bands like The Beatles performed. This used to be the majestic main entrance of the building, now in decay.

We had a skills session on adobe After Effects where we were given the basic skills required in film making. This gave us a basic understanding of the software which we later built on using video tutorials.

Day 9: Initial design with cross section drawing

Day 1
We spent the day being introduced to Kurtschwitters and the concept Ian (the client) had. We split into 3 different project groups and I chose to be in the residential team

Day 2. After initial group discussions, we individually developed ideas based on personal precedents research. We made photocollages to explore different possible installations for Piccadilly Gardens.

DAY - 7

This was the final build day, which I spend the morning mind-mapping FUN concepts and the afternoon making those concepts a reality. This involved making stencils for draughts and letters, buying blackboard paint for some of the sides and choosing fabrics for the cubes. We went back onto the balcony to spray onto the nets that we had ready.

Presentation Day- this is where we presented the final output of our two week project. We wanted someone to wear the garment during the presentation to demonstrate the whole idea behind it.

After developing a rough understanding of what we wanted our finally video to be, I created this image to illustrate the idea of overlaying old images of the crescents with new edited images.

This is the future cityscape. It has skyscrappers and floating cities that can be reached by water transport.

We spoke to an artist, Dot, who has experience in recording ideas using only audio. He gave us more insight into old Hulme and helped us develop rough story boards for our films.

DAY 6

During the morning we interviewed Tony Kelzo. Later we then began editing the sound on After Effect, creating a rough draft to present along with a poster.

The final product generates oxygen to allow access on a construction site.