Final Day It is our final model made out of metal pipes and concrete base

Day 9 We were building testing model to see the shading effect in a more practical way

Day 8 We first designed a possible structure using Sketchup trying out the shadow effect

Day 1 Teammates and I were researching Clayton's history in the UOM and MMU library from the time 1870s

Day 2 We went to the site, everything have been demolished.

Day 3 I have bleached the photos and used a lighter to burn off a little bit to create a old industrial effect

Our project is called, THE LOST STREET.

The sketchup model that shows the initial stage of the design in which where the shadows will be formed from the shapes that was created. This is the experimentation stage to form the words so that it will create the right shadow of the CPO.

Compilation of the bleached and ruined photos that we did to create the effect that depicts the scene of the current state of Clayton.

A test model of our installation to experiment with the angles and the shapes to cast the CPO shadow on the background.

This is the effect of the photo after bleaching it.

This is the site analysis of our chosen site, Clayton. We edited the photos in accordance to how we would like to show the effects of the CPO on the site. The white drawings shows the rows of houses that used to be there but now, demolished.

Printed photographs to be hung in the final sculpture, printed in different sizes.

Rough models to test the structure

SketchUp model testing the idea for the final art piece, made of metal pipes arranged so that they cast a shadow which spells CPO. From them, some of the edited photographs will be hung.

Editing of the photographs which were taken on site to give them a pink polluted effect, portraying that there were several factories located there.

A Site Visit to Clayton, East Manchester, all we saw was a vast abandoned space with the last house being demolished.

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

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

PEACE MISSING.

3 SECTIONS ARE CREATED FROM THE RIVER, EACH SECTION IS VARNISHED IN DIFFERENT SHADES. THE GREY REPRESENTS THE RIVER AND THE BLACK REPRESENTS THE CPO. THE BLACK BLOCK THAT DOES NOT FIT INTO THE PUZZLE IS MEANT TO SAY THAT THE CPO (NEW ISLINGTON) DOES NOT FIT ANCOATS.

THOUGHT PROCESS OF HOW WE SHOULD REPRESENT DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE AREA. WE THOUGHT ABOUT HAVING DIFFERENT HEIGHTS OF BLOCKS FOR DIFFERENT LAYERS, LEAVING ALL THE BLOCKS IN THE SAME HEIGHT AND LIFTING UP THE CPO ED AREA WITH RODS.

On day 5 we cut out all the pieces of the puzzle from MDF. We found the MDF boards from the leftovers in the workshop. However we wanted to make the pieces look neat and elegant, so we decided to cover the pieces in plywood. We had to cut the pieces again from plywood and stick them on top of the MDF. Then we sanded them together, so that both looked unified. Painting the shapes was left for the next day.

This is the final product of our interactive art installation which is a combination of a physical rotational model and text to accompany it to introduce the changes CPO brings aboout to a community.

With a frame to support the four different facades, we attached human figures on each facade to showcase the change in community that reside in them, in terms of how close knit they were before the process of CPO, and how isolated individuals are when introduced to the new developments.

We then created a second base which rotates on its own axis to rotate the four different facades.

This is how the model initially looked like with the four facades closed up against each other.

The rotating mechanism contains a round MDF base board, a thick piece of perspex, to allow smooth rotation, and a dowel through them.

The 4 facades are then connected to a base with hinges we got from Fred Aldous, as we wanted to achieve an interactive opening 'box' to reveal the different communities within.

After coming up with a concept to showcase the different architectural and community changes after the stages of CPO, we decided on an interactive model to showcase that and proceeded with laser cutting the four different architectural facades that represent the different stages.

The photo collage projects the different facade onto the old block, showing the contrast between the new and the old.

LEAFLET

"You still fight it, but you don’t win. You can’t.”

“Apparently this kind of regeneration is happening all over, in Germany, Holland, France…the same sort of thing.”

FINISHED PRODUCT

Ultimately, our group achieved a successful outcome, but to improve the process, we perhaps needed a chairperson to help encourage cooperation when tasks were being shared out.

Here is the finished product! :)

We went to the metal workshop and decided to change the initial idea of using metal pipes to cuboid rods, as this would better fit the angular form of the letters. The metal was cut and welded, now only what is left is to produce the molds for the concrete slabs.

We decided to make a scale model of our proposed installation. This helped us discover the problems that needed to be addressed such as the creation of the shadows. A base needed to be added to the pipes so that the shadows are able to be cast onto the wall and not the floor. So we have decided to embed the pipes into concrete slabs.

Here is Ali showing his incredible strength by using ONE HAND ONLY to remove the excess amount of screw on the back of a hinged facade, very impressive.

Our initial idea is to create a piece using metal pipes in a form that will create a shadow on the wall depicting the letters CPO. We thought the metal would symbolise the industrial sites that surround our area of investigation

PROCESS

We have been refining our puzzle pieces for a while and created a base to hold them.

We also applied a gradient onto our puzzle.

This is my amazing group with four members, two from first years and two second years. I very much enjoyed working with them as everyone was engaged and dedicated to the project even when we were out of university. We had great communication as everyone respected each other's opinions, understanding, and helpful with each other. I could not have asked for a better group. :)

This is the final output. Apart from placing different amount of people on each facade to show the contrast of old and new community, we also aded strings on the first two stage interconnecting the people to show the close connection where as the other two sides contain all independent individuals and mostly working class. I really enjoyed making the model and happy about the way it turned out. I find the plan very interesting as the people stood up against each other and forms an imaginary picture.

Our final metal pieces were welded to create the letters spelling out CPO. From this we will cast them on a cement base and hang photos along the y axis.

This a a plan of our model and the comparison show our another difficulty towards hiding the dowel in the centre. We attempted to make a tree out of real plants to make a more lively atmosphere on the right. Later on we realised it made the modern less cohesive as it was meaningless and dramatic which took away the sophistication of the initial material and image. Therefore we changed it to a mini houses with description of each facade on the faces.

PROCESS

We have collected some leftover woods from the workshop to cut down our cost.

We traced the edited map onto the pieces of wood we have collected, then cut them to create our puzzle pieces

We came across with a few problems while making the model for example attaching components or how the mechanism works in general. Here we were trying to glue the frame together to stabilise the facades when they close. However, it was very weak and unsupportive. Therefore we nailed the corners together instead, which then we realised was less time consuming and more reliable.

Day 5 - Refining 2
We have also strained the pieces with wood stain to achieve various shades not only to make it easier to assemble the puzzle but also to show the density of the community that once was in new Islington.

We laser cut some people with different social status for example some businessmen in suits and some couples who have lower social status. We stood them up of the inner side of the four facades according to the closeness of the community. The first two stages contained plenty more people and the neighbourhood was more contended and people would hang out on the street; whereas the later stages were more quiet as people enjoy their own private space and rely less on neighbourhood. Also some new residents would be isolated as old habitants have less understanding towards them. Also less people can afford to live there as the area appears to be more wealthy.

Day 5 -Refining
Working on the base, we have considered materials such as perspex- grey to outline the canals and black for missing piece. Placing them onto a MDF piece of wood, we created a solid base for our puzzle pieces.

Day 4 - Making
Using MDF wood, we have cut out the pieces for our puzzle. We have also cut out the shapes of puzzle pieces in birchwood plywood that we glued on top of the MDF to gain a more textured look with a pattern.

Here are some details of our physical model. Our model was to have a spinning box that contains four different stages of facades that can be opened, along with some diagrammatic details in the centre. The left image shows the laser cut engraved facade details and the right shows how we attached the boards together by slanting the edges instead of having to offset them, to create a neater and more sophisticated model.

We then created a physical scaled model of the final piece. Although it was made out of plasticine and toothpicks, we managed to get the desired effect with the use of shadows.

PLANNING

We have been discussing how New Islington can be represented as a void. We used the the map to determine shapes of different communities

At a later stage we have finalised our idea - to create a 3D puzzle with wooden blocks.

This a collage to show the staged from old houses, to when it became demolished and new housing was built. Through CPO, the close neighbourhood of Gorton was forced to move out and move away from each other. Many relationships were lost. People who moved to a new area would get isolated due to their social status. And some people could not afford to move bak due to the higher housing prices in the CPO sites. Although the council thought that CPO was a solution to the area, the problems were just moved to another area, but the connection of the habitants was destroyed.

This is a diagram to show the difference of the latest CPO area in compared to the same area in the past in West Gorton. The first one was in 1981, then 2000, 2005 and 2014. As the diagram shows, the architecture changed from industrial to residential and the density has significantly decreased. The surrounding roads are widened and houses contained more private space.

SITE VISIT - NEW ISLINGTONSITE VISIT

From our site visit, we discovered that New Islington is a regeneration area that has taken a separate identity to reflect its changed status.

We spoke to the local people and they are not happy about the development.

This is a sketch of one of the building styles. The difference to the older buildings was that this has more colour contrast on facades and contains front yard which brings a more private and wealthy atmosphere. The height of the buildings remain two to three storeys which are suitable for young individuals and aggregated working class.

This shows a pile of waste produced in the process of reconstructing the area as CPO was carried out. The building behind was soon to be demolished. The site although was polished due to the new housing styles, however, lots of piles of waste were around on the central green space, which decreased the pleasantness of the area.

When we visited West Gorton, there was an abandoned house in the centre of the site that had not been demolished compared to all the other surrounded buildings. There was a contrast between this older building and the CPO buildings in terms of style and colour use. The picture shows that windows and doors were blocked, it is soon to be demolished.

Here is a more specific sketch to show the close community in West Gorton. I attempted to show the large amount of interaction between neighbourhood and families outside their houses, representing the bonded and reliable relationship of habitants. Although people might have had lower social issues, the cleanliness condition was high and the crime rate was low.

This is a collage to show the housing style of West Gorton and community state in the 70s. Most buildings were housing and local churches at the time. I combined different streets views together to show the variety of architecture. As the image shows, majority of the buildings were traditional brick work that was not very decorative, but crime and pollution were low due to the contented community.

then we focused on creating a design for our installation piece. we used sketch to create the pipe shapes to cast a shadow to make the acronym C.P.O

Here we looked at the change in site through time and collated data from the central library to enrich our understanding of the site

Day 3 - Planning
Through following the road lines on the printed out map of New Islington, we came up with an interesting pattern. This is a starting point for the puzzle that we have decided to make, with a piece missing to signify the community no longer being there after a new redevelopment.

Day 8
We decided to design a leaflet which would accompany the final product. This includes basic information about the project, instructions for the assembly of the puzzle and a list of quotes from an interview with a lady we meant on the site.

Day 6.
Our group finished with the metal pieces and tested the shadow.

Day 8
The finished product. We used grey perspex to show the canals and black to show the void in the Ancoats area.

Day 7
After making all the pieces which would make up our puzzle we stained them. We wanted to create 3 different shades of the stain so we had to sand some down and give others more than one coat. We divided it up in to 3 sections by colour so the making of the puzzle would be easier.

Day 5 and 6
We have been in the work shop cutting out the shapes of the puzzle out of mdf then stuck wood with a nice grain on top to make it more interesting. We then marked out the base of the puzzle and made a little lip around the edge so the piece's would not slid around when moved.

The abandoned victorian building in Gorton suggests how the progression of society can affect a building over time.

Engraving the different facades as part of the art installation.

The last row of old houses standing, defying the development.

The map shows the development area in Gorton. It provided us with a guide around for us to identify the differences in the old and new.

Day 6
Day six was an easy going day as we completed the physical model the day before, in day six we started to complete the idea behind this whole model. So we added the people that we were trying to show they were a good community and they all had a good friendship with each other which the CPO has ruined because they had get separated and leave the place and go to another area to live in.

Day 5 (Workshop)
In day five we started leaser cutting the pieces for the physical model and started to figure out how to put everything together as we have planned the day before. We also faced some problems with leaser cutting which was we ended up leaser cutting the wrong side of the piece of wood. When we overcome this problem then we started to think about the materials that we use for putting everything together and keep everything neat and clean. We also thought about using hinges to attach the four different parts which shows different types of buildings.

Day 4
In day four we decided to complete our idea of creating a college showing different ideas on the same piece but we also thought that we should come up with a physical model that would show our response to the CPO site. We spent the whole morning thinking of a way to show the response and the afternoon getting everything ready such as the auto cad file etc.

A groupmate trying his best to destroy the photos. This is to be used in the installation. Bleaching, burning, sanding. Just in the hope of destroying the perfectly edited photos.

Casting shadows on the background from the metal installation. Supposedly, CPO is being created.

Getting the angle of everything, the light source and the placement of the metal installation, was a challenge. Will take it to a really dark room and cast beautiful shadows there. Next step.

QUOTES FROM INTERVIEW WITH LADY WHO LIVED IN ANCOATS.

"You still fight it, but you don’t win. You can’t.”

"There is no sense of community compared to when I was a little girl.”

“Apparently this kind of regeneration is happening all over, in Germany, Holland, France…the same sort of thing.”

THE NEW ISLINGTON CPO DOES NOT FIT ALONG SIDE ITS COMMUNITY.

Day 2.
We went to the site hoping to find the remaining house but they were cleaning up after the demolition of the last house. We took photos of the site and the surrounding for further work back in the studio.

Day 3-4: We spent the days brainstorming ideas of how to represent what we found out in the best way possible. We went through ideas of collages, drawings, paintings and finally decided to build a model. Our idea was to create something artistic, with a metaphorical meaning, but still connected to the reality of what we saw. We finally decided to make a 3d puzzle, where every piece would be stained differently. The puzzle would be inspired by a map of the researched area, where every piece was set to be a different community. A piece which wont fit would be the area where the council intervened. At the end of day 4 we had it all planned out, the pieces cut out from paper, and we were prepared to begin building the actual object.

Day 2. We decided to get in touch with New Islington, and spent the day roaming around the area trying to get a feel for what it was like, and what it has become. There were new houses built, but huge parts of the area, where houses were demolished, were left untouched ever since. It was obvious the council was trying to replace the old housing with new, modern constructions which are a lot more expensive. Back in 2003 the community was demolished. Furthermore the boundaries of New Islington were changed, in order for the council to be able to "free" a bigger area for the new constructions to take place. According to a lady we met on site, the local hospital was brought down, as well as many pubic gathering places which were in the area. The community was disassembled and people fled to many different parts of Manchester, while some even left the city. To my eyes the future plans for the area were also quiet ineffective. The feeling of loneliness was a great factor to my eyes while walking around New Islington. From what we observed, experienced and understood I would say it was a poorly executed CPO, which seemed to have washed away an otherwise stable community