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.

Interior projectors showing pictures of the old Cornerhouse, retro movie posters and how popular the cinema was.

We have compared the Cornerhouse site and the HOME site through diagrams, in order to understand the degree of enclosure, the circulation around the building, geometry and how accessible they are.

On Monday morning we worked on our floor plans and further developed our concept, and in the afternoon architect Jim Chapman came to talk to us about our projects. We explained what precedents inspired us, why we intend to use Cornerhouse as an exhibition and how the exterior projectors and artistic installation will change the building's facade without actually altering it. After the presentation he gave us feedback and some advice in order to improve our scheme.

On Friday we had a discussion with Polly Bentham, from the Save the Cornerhouse campaign. She came to talk to us about her project and their attempts to save the iconic Mancunian building. Afterwards, we presented our scheme and talked about how we plan to develop it. Our main goal is to remind people of the beauty and importance of the Cornerhouse, but we do not intend to alter the existing design in any way. We created an artistic installation made of bricks which seem blown away by the wind, as if the building was decomposing after being closed. And because Manchester is such an animated city during the night, we included external and internal projectors showing images which recall the building's glory days.

During the second day we've visited the Cornerhouse site in order to examine the context in which the building is placed, which helped us generate the first program and design ideas. Besides the basic elements which had to be analysed, like geometry, degree of enclosure, accessibility etc. , I've also looked at how people walk and talk around the site, at their facial expressions and body language. This experience allowed me to understand better the significance of this specific site and how it acts like a gate inviting people coming from the train station into the city.

Afterwards, we went to the new location of the cinema, "HOME". Although this building has a contemporary flair due to the combination of materials and interior circulation, it doesn't seem to have a sense of place, to truly belong to Manchester, like the former Cornerhouse.

On the first day we've started analysing various case studies regarding methods of rescuing/ re-using a site and we've discussed the notions of insertion, installation and intervention. We were split in groups of four and presented the results of our research.

The most interesting building we had found was Dresden Museum of Military History by Daniel Libeskind, "a fundamental dislocation", a bold example of insertion, which aggressively interrupts the existing building's rigid geometry and creates a connection between the past and the present, offering its visitors a new and unique experience. This extension to the museum also makes a political statement, as it represents the freedom and openness encountered in a democratic system, while the old building reminds of the rigour of the totalitarian regime.