//DAY 02//MUSEUM SHOPS VISITS
The morning session provided a series of opportunities for students to draw inspirations from various museum shops as well as independent shops. Students were encouraged to document the spaces through photography, and catalogued the items sold within each museums, followed by a general discussion within the group to discuss on the merits and limitations of each design. Three contrasting shop layouts were explored:
The Manchester Central Library//
The library contains a small display unit with a limited range of items stacked on shelves. The students pointed out the weakness of the pricing system as well as the absence of library image within the shop and hope to improve upon this limitation. A catalogue of items that could potentially be sold in the MMU specials collections were documented and photographed.

The Manchester Art Gallery//
The gallery housed the largest collection of items between the 3 spaces. A series of cupboards with hanging frames centralised the shop, with post cards and various bespoke decorative pieces hanged from the structures. The students admired the simplicity and systematic arrangement utilised, as well as the storage system within each display unit. During the discussion, students were encouraged to think about materiality in unifying the overall space and creating a design language suitable for the shop.

The Crafts and Design Centre//
The centre is home to various independent shops, each with unique characteristics selling a range of bespoke items. The items were generally displayed in draws and on the walls without a systematic organisation system. The students were able to recognise these limitations but praised the branding strategy in creating a sense of presence for visitors, which was lacking from the other two places.

The MMU Special Collections is located on the 3rd floor of All Saints Library and the project finds itself within the lobby of the department. Its unique situation currently makes it hard for visitors to notice its presence and often unaware of the hidden gem within the university campus. Through our design engagement, the project seeks to reconnect the aforementioned space back to the university campus and the city beyond, attracting visitors to a range of exhibitions, art and book collections, as well as artifacts in the Special Collections. The map indicates the site location where the design will situate in our project.

The session plan outlines the scheduled activities and tasks we will be doing for the 2 weeks of our event. During the 2 weeks, we will have the opportunity to learn about the special collections and design a modular & movable pop-up shop for the library. Working as a collective as well as smaller group, our aim is to produce a full drawing package, including technical drawings and visuals for our client. Additionally, students will also have to opportunity to enrich their software and modelling skills which will be useful in future projects. At the end of the event, our collaborator will choose one of the three designs as a winning project, and the selected design will have to potential to be built in the near future. This is an excellent opportunity to participate in a live-design process with a client and a fantastic chance to see your design realise. We look forward to seeing all your amazing ideas!

Special Collections Pop-Up Shop// The Collaborator

Meet our collaborator: Jannake Geene
Jannake is the special collections manager for MMU Library, home to a range of artist’s books, fine and decorative art, book and archive collections, as well as prints and albums. Her aim for the project is to reconnect the collections back to the university and give this cultural hidden gem its rightful place in the city, through design and use of modular retail units.

Special Collections Pop-Up Shop// The Team

Introducing The Special Collections Pop-Up Shop Team Members:
The team consists of 5th year students from Manchester School of Architecture. We are passionate architecture students interested in working with existing structures and historic buildings. Our experience ranges from building regeneration to infrastructure, housing development, as well as master planning.

Should you have any questions with regards to the project or wish to know more about our design approach, please do not hesitate to contact us for more information.

We look forward to working with you!