MSA Live 21

Keerthana M

An insightful talk with Tony Ewings, the Project Manager from Stone Edge who is involved in the masonry refurbishment and Lee Bilson, the Heritage Consultant from Recclesia.
They shared their experiences of being involved in the restoration of Manchester Town Hall and they spoke about the craftsmanship required for the project. It was also quite interesting to know about the amount of intricate work of art involved in preserving and restoring the Town Hall.

Posted 15 May 2021 18:45

Group 05 / MODULARCH

Thomas David O

This week we have been exploring materiality options for the modular housing units (apartments and dwellings) looking closely at how they will be applied in controlled factory conditions and on site as the modules stack together.

The affordable housing proposals should be adaptable for a series of contexts, so a pre-approved material palette will provide greater flexibility when it comes to the façade cladding treatments respecting contextual surroundings.

Next step is to superimpose material options onto massing models to explore elevational treatments and key technical details.

Posted 15 May 2021 17:14

Group 02 / MIXED SPACE

Lian L

Day 5 Task:
On the fifth day the students were asked to further develop the design of the Tetley space based on their own design ideas of the previous days. The students in Group 1 designed the roof greenery, expanded the outdoor green space and created some sensory gardens incorporating the landscape, while replanning the interior Spaces of the Tetley.

Posted 15 May 2021 16:27

Group 15 / PLAY BY THE BEECH

Enis Tan U

Day 5
After a week of researching together we created frameworks for the process of reusing the assets from the construction site. These includes different types of wood ceramic tiles, bricks, carpets, plastics, glass, different types of metals, moulds and a general framework to be used for future assets.

Posted 15 May 2021 15:01

Group 18 / ARCHIKIDS

Jordon Michael W

Hi All,

Today we welcomed Matt + Fiona to speak to us, they delivered a brilliant lecture about their ethos as a practice and the projects they run.

Their practice aims to make a positive impact within society through community led projects that inspire people of all ages. Their projects give the community a sense of ownership and belonging. Here is a link to one of our favourites: http://mattandfiona.org/made-in-oakfield/

We would just like to personally thank Matt + Fiona for making the time to speak to us and we would like to wish them all the best in their future projects.

Posted 15 May 2021 13:03

Premdyl Singh S

Day 5

As our thematic groups develop their schemes inspired by the guest lectures and their precedence’s, we have invited the clients and consultants to present the direction of our project as well as for their comments. The presentations consisted of drawings and 3D models of our ideas to show off some of the exciting concepts that the undergraduate students have been able to come up with. Through having a conversation with the clients and consultant, we have received several comments on how to move forward and improve our design to be closer to something that can be realised.

Posted 15 May 2021 11:48

Soniamaria L

Manchester Hulme area possesses a very diverse community with different cultures co-existing together. However, due to cultural differences and language barrier, migrants and refugees struggle to integrate within the local community. Consequently, to solve local social segregation, the design proposal comprises pop-up dining/kitchen mobile pods that aim to unite the community by being self-built demountable structures, which fold and unfold according to daily usage.

Posted 15 May 2021 02:34

MODELLING

Based on previous concept ideas, we made sketch models with simple materials. After carrying out Photoshop tutorial for BA students, we introduced those creative models into the context from various perspectives and posted comments for each other.

Looking forward to seeing the further progress next week!

Posted 15 May 2021 00:40

Posted 15 May 2021 00:39

Posted 15 May 2021 00:39

Group 35 / SKYSCRAPERS THE LIMIT

Beena N

Community Group

Today the members of community group iterated sketch models that allowed them to develop their strategy in 3D, exploring finer details of their design. They focused on the experiential elements of their roof structure, thinking about the way light enters, how rain and wind are treated through their proposal. Their final image shows their developed proposal which incorporates a curved roof design, tinted mosaic inspired glazing and a journey through the structure from the open air of the market to the more secluded side where light shows can take place.

Posted 15 May 2021 00:31

Ryan D

This morning we carried out an AutoCAD tutorial for the BA students to help assist them in their architectural journey through the course.

Meanwhile, each group has been working hard to produce a video to be presented to the MHA students!

Posted 14 May 2021 22:47

Group 17 / KEEN FINGERS

Grace C

Day 5: Social and Community Impact Workshop.

Here are some words from the students participating in todays workshop:

“The design includes several areas put together where users can have market spaces and meetings, provide gardening spaces, children can play, and users can chat in small community hubs under the shade of the surrounding trees."

"Gardening pods could include this concept where different plants may require more soil, sunlight, or shade."

"On the higher platforms, the difference in building and land scape become blurred as it helps create a panoramic view of the public space and seating areas can be used as picnic spots.”

This worksop had some great discussions today, a great way to round up the first week!

Posted 14 May 2021 22:18

Group 17 / KEEN FINGERS

Grace C

Day 4: Landscape and Orientation Workshop.

Day 4 ran a landscape and orientation workshop, the students developed on the presented information. They have considered the interaction between the potting shed and the surrounding flower beds and tree lines, as well as considering how the shed should be orientated after building on the knowledge gained from the solar workshop.

Lastly the students worked on siting the potting shed in an area which is accessible to the community that uses beech road park.

Posted 14 May 2021 22:15

Group 17 / KEEN FINGERS

Grace C

Day 3: Drainage and Water Workshop.

Day 3 ran a workshop considering specific drainage details, damp proof systems and methods of controlling water.

The students came up with some really great details which were appropriate for the site utilising the available water sources as well as collecting fresh rainwater.

This was a great opportunity for the students to explore some basic details along side the Masters students.

Posted 14 May 2021 22:08

Group 33 / ECOTSWOLDS

Michael Thomas W

Today we were joined by Padraig McMorrow – A passive house certified architect from IBI group.

Padraig talked through the carbon impacts of a building from material selection, construction, in-use, and disassembly. He discussed the five main Passive house principles: No thermal bridging, Superior windows, Mechanical ventilation with heat recovery, quality insulation, and Airtight construction. He used a range of projects from his portfolio at IBI to give working examples of best practice.

The discussion was opened out to questions where we discussed the future of passive house and energy standards in the UK, Mass timber, and the use of natural materials.

Padraig was also able to offer some helpful insight on delivering a sustainable building with a traditional aesthetic.

https://ecococon.eu/
https://www.modcell.com/projects/

Posted 14 May 2021 20:52

Group 27 / CONNECTED COMMUNITY

Yuxi Y

Day 5

The fifth day is BA students' first presentation to the clients from Hopton court. They presented their concept, plan and rendering to the clients and got feedback from them. This has been a very valuable day as we received useful comments and preferences from the tenants. Therefore, we can continue to improve our design scheme next week based on their requirement and needs.

Posted 14 May 2021 20:39

Yifan H

History group

Today the member of history group made the model, the outer walls are all painted green, the idea behind this is there would be vegetation growing on the walls such as Liannas. The inner walls are as colourful to create a bright aesthetic that could serve the purpose of attracting a youthful audience in addition to the people who would visit to learn more about the history. On each wall there will be readings on the history of the church and Rochdale placed on the wall in granite tablets, for grandeur.

Posted 14 May 2021 20:35

Group 16 / WOAH + GMHAN

Shrida V

On day 5, the web design group began designing the rest of the website's layout and presentation. The research group had started updating the blog posts developing the ideas from the previous day.

After an intensive week of research and design, we decided to end the session with a fun game of Skribbl!

Posted 14 May 2021 20:17

It's a wrap!

We were happy to finish the first week of MSA LIVE 2021 with a workshop on post production techniques in Photoshop. Our students were quick to learn new skills and apply them to enhance their previously created sketches. The activity was interactive as the MArch students took turns in sharing their knowledge and tricks for digital rendering and post production.

As the BA students have expressed interest in learning Photoshop and Indesign, we are considering doing some more similar activities in the following week.

We are very excited for the upcoming workshops and can't wait to see what work our students will produce as final outputs of these sessions. Until then, don't forget to follow us on instagram @msa_sketchy_business, where we showcase all the sketches!

Posted 14 May 2021 20:12

Group 30 / OUR PROUD PAST

Syahirah Hanis Binti AG

HERITAGE TEAM: DRAFT LAYOUT 3
By Elliott

In contrast to the first 2 drafts, this layout follows the masterpages template provided more closely as an option. While the idea to represent each narrative topics are similar with the other two drafts, one interesting idea in this is to use dialogue bubbles or 'comical' strips style in conveying information. This is to engage the readers more through 'story telling' and 'casual conversation' instead of having them to read lines of informative text that can be overwhelming.

Posted 14 May 2021 19:56

Nadir Qazim M

Yesterday afternoon, 2 out of 3 groups began creating graphics/drawings to go alongside the archived information we previously organised and categorised. Today, we have a selection of beautiful drawings that will be used on our online exhibition page and Zine! Here are a few of the images created. The other group is continuing to work on the net models for the Centre, see that post for more information! Happy weekend and stay tuned!

Posted 14 May 2021 19:56

Group 38 / MAPPING COLOUR

Syahirah Hanis Binti AG

HERITAGE TEAM: DRAFT LAYOUT 2
By Syahirah

This draft layout option uses the whole 2 page spread and integrates several narrative topics in a page as compared to Draft 1. It uses interactive features in which readers can click on certain buttons for informations to show. There is also opportunity for comparing Albert Square and the Town Hall between the past and contemporary times (municipality to civic) in the second layout, however team members had raised concern over the capability to accurately singled-out the exact year of when this supposedly happened due to the constant changes in past events. Alternatives suggested include to put the focus of the page on the events accordingly, not on the year when they happened.

Posted 14 May 2021 19:46

Adeyinka Adedunni A

MAPPING ACTIVITY!

As well as large scale mapping, over the week the team has done a deep dive into sector levels of diversity. Particularly concerning Architects, Civil Engineers, Planners, Landscape Architects and Contractors across various cities. The Project team then commenced making maps to experiment how to represent the data successfully.

Posted 14 May 2021 19:36

Group 38 / MAPPING COLOUR

Adeyinka Adedunni A

Posted 14 May 2021 19:35

Group 14 / RE-SHAPING MARPLE

DAY 5 HIGHLIGHTS!!

Group 3 - Home screen and Building Elevation group

On feedback from the client we also made edits to our building symbolising the doctors appointment course. Taking sections of each building allowed us to increase the scale of details by decreasing the size of the buildings themselves. This creates a happy medium between overzoomed and underzoomed scales found yesterday in our mobile banking building. We have also applied the NHS logo to make the typology clear which otherwise could be opaque.

Posted 14 May 2021 18:59

Kefei Q

Day 5 - This week we had created the basic idea from the background introduction and the presentation of 'sense of place' from Joe. Then as group, we produced an opportunities and constraints diagram and the programme drawing respectively. After that, we got the lectures from Eamonn about the key principles of urban design and a talk from Ian about the suggestions on how to manage the landscape design for the memorial park. Also the model making workshop is really successful that everyone had produced their models based on their concepts. On the last day this week, we presented all the works in small group to Joe and Judith, who comes from GT3 Architect. Joe and Judith provided very helpful feedback on the point of 'urban design' and gave the working direction for next week. To concluded, this is a real valuable week!

Posted 14 May 2021 18:59

DAY 5 HIGHLIGHTS!!

Group 3 - Home screen and Building Elevation group

Continuing on the theme from yesterday we made elements at a miso scale and then conjoined them into one conceptual elevation. In yesterday’s we symbolised what building may be earned from completing a course on mobile banking. Today we produced an elevation to symbolise completing the universal credit course, so took a number of government buildings, including the clock from Manchester town hall. We can see that a common theme is of luxury and quality as there have been similarly common themes in other typologies such as the arch in medical buildings.

Posted 14 May 2021 18:58

DAY 5 HIGHLIGHTS!!

Group 2 - The Avatar clothing and the splash screen/loading screen group

The second group focused today on the splash screen of the app. They have first looked at several inspirations and precedents of different app splash screens and then went into illustrator to try to design their own. They learned today a feature called Image Trace that helps with creating detailed vectorised illustrations from rasterised images. They showed a thorough creativity across the day by compositing and collaging the different images and redesigning them in Illustrator.

Posted 14 May 2021 18:55

Zichen L

Culture Group

Today, members of culture group combined the models and sketch, which was made during the speed model making exercise in a single drawing, continuing in the style of the previous work and discussing more specifically what the mini dome might look like and how the mosaic path leads people into the church. It was a very interesting experiment and the results were very creative.

Posted 14 May 2021 18:51

Group 25 / IN THE OCEANS OF DIVERSITY

DAY 5 HIGHLIGHTS!!

Group 1 - Achievement icons and Learning platform group

With the developed icons, students later incorporated ways to further define them as achievements that the user gets when they finish a course on the app. The inspiration for these icons came about from the design of award plaques and the community shield trophy.

Posted 14 May 2021 18:50

Giorgos P

Revit Workshop

Today MArch students Nadezhda Yordanova and Nuwar Darwish, held a Revit workshop for BA students covering the basic of the software. During the workshop, BA students understood how to do plans, sections, and elevations in Revit, how to export plans and how to import materials. This was very useful for the BA students as for all of them it was the first time that they used Revit. Now, with the new skills they learnt, they are more prepared to assist the rest of the team with the development of our project.

Posted 14 May 2021 18:12

Group 38 / MAPPING COLOUR

Adeyinka Adedunni A

2011 DIVERSITY LEVELS ACROSS CONSTURCTION

Using Census Data, the team has been recording levels of diversity within different UK cities, and specific London Boroughs – through the collating of this research it can feed into our infographics for the exhibition booths, as well as inform us on the current trends and how it might translate into diversity levels of specific sectors. This may include Architecture, Civil Engineering, Planning, Landscape Architecture and so on.
So far, we have found quite low levels in diversity, especially in the North, but by making people more aware it can hopefully probe the construction industry to be more active about diversity and inclusivity.

Posted 14 May 2021 17:54

Group 36 / COLOUR THE CITY

Farah Nadhiera Binti MF

HERITAGE TEAM: DRAFT LAYOUT
By Farah

To prepare ourselves into the next final week, Heritage Team comes up with several page layout options to consider how the research materials so far can be effectively communicated and visualised. We give each other feedback through our usual 'show and tell' session at the end of the day.

Posted 14 May 2021 17:53

Muhammad Ifwat Bin Z

We end our day with further discussion and sharing sessions about the progress of our booklet. We have seen a lot of really great sketches from the students. Really excited and can't wait to show our progress to our collaborators next week!

Posted 14 May 2021 17:49

Group 37 / PAY INN DISPLAY

Cameron H

The first week of the PayInnDisplay project is in the books. It has been fantastic to get to know everyone better and some brilliant work has been produced in the process.

Today has primarily been about building upon the work that was started yesterday, articulating and finalizing the weeks outputs: an exploded axonometric, a zine, and a series of informative Instagram posts. Each of these three outputs have sought to illustrate the notion of The Farmers’ Arms acting as a ‘living museum’ and orchestrate a journey around the building whereby the visitor is exposed to many of the key artefacts that bare historical importance in the C17th inn (both in terms of the objects and the architecture). Working in small teams divided by output, there have been regular cross-overs and check-ins between groups to ensure all three outputs are working together in a seamless and conjunctive manner, and can be easily utilized as tool when visiting the inn.

The day culminated in a collective virtual round-table presentation and discussion of the three key outputs, as well as a reflection on the whole experience of the first week as the PayInnDisplay project moves into the next phase.

Posted 14 May 2021 17:42

Group 15 / PLAY BY THE BEECH

Premdyl Singh S

Day 5

We were beyond elated today to host our collaborators, Laura Sanderson on behalf of Friends of Beech Road Park Chorlton , Colette from Unity Arts and our guest Kevin from Manchester City Council.

All three of them were extremely excited and welcoming of our creative schemes and supported us with a plethora of feedback and concerns such as lighting, materiality and security that will no doubt help push our designs to the next level!

We are grateful to Laura, Colette and Kevin for taking the time out to meet with us and are extremely thankful that they kept an open mind and encouraged us to take risks with our designs while striking a balance with practicality. Really excited to see where we go from here!

Posted 14 May 2021 17:39

Group 18 / ARCHIKIDS

Millie Jessica Tracy E

The three pods!

The final outcome of our project will be the design of three pods which encourage creativity, learning and play for children and the wider community. Each pod is to be used for a specific activity, but we also want to ensure connections between the pods to encourage overlap between the spaces and increase interactivity between the users.

Today we thought about the process of activities within each pod to enable us to create a programme of spaces needed within the pod. We then drew comparisons between each programme to see where there might be possible intersections. We will then use these spaces to begin testing different layouts for each pod and the overall masterplan.

The Canvas Pod

The canvas pod is all about making art – drawing, painting, sticking, you name it. We want the pod itself to be the canvas, to create a hub of imagination. Using varied surfaces and textures, the walls, floors and ceilings of the pod will display a variety of artwork which can be painted on, pinned up, moved around and adapted as the artists see fit.

The Sensory Pod

This pod aims to create sensory experiences through the use of different textures and materials. It will explore possibilities of making sound through different surfaces, creating atmosphere through apertures and lighting and even thinking about smell through the community growing their own plants and flowers on the pods. We want the users to reflect on the senses they discover in this pod and how they affect our everyday built environment.

The Model Making Pod

This pod will be a space where model making can be carried out, providing a variety of materials for children to create structures and sculptures. We have been thinking about the dual functionality of furniture in this pod – a table for a 5-year-old might be a chair for a 9-year-old which might be a step for an adult. The pod will also include adaptable elements to the pod itself, to enable people to recreate the form and structure, model making on a larger scale.

Posted 14 May 2021 17:39

Group 36 / COLOUR THE CITY

Muhammad Ifwat Bin Z

Our last day for Week 1 starts with a super fun quiz session with the Invisible Manchester team! As part of our brief to reduce loneliness and involving the tour guides, the collaborative quiz will allow the students and the Invisible Manchester team to connect and promote an amicable and fun alternative to communicate informatively. We love it and had so much fun! p.s. We might plan to do it again!

Posted 14 May 2021 17:32

Group 25 / IN THE OCEANS OF DIVERSITY

Giorgos P

Precedent Studies

Today MArch students along with BA students explored different precedent studies that gave us examples for the development of our design. Those precedents were based on the functional requirements of our space, use of colour and expression of cultural identity. This activity helped the group to start sharing different ideas and discussing the how different aspects of the projects could be like.

Posted 14 May 2021 17:27

Group 24 / INFRA GAME

Xinzi D

The team has improved the 'Connection' Game!
'Connection' encourages children more cooperative and interactive. The new missions and sabotage cards make the game more interesting. Children will learn infrastructure knowledge by playing the new 'Connection' game. Our team began to focus on aesthetic improvements. Good work team!

Posted 14 May 2021 17:26

Group 21 / INSPIRE BRADFORD

Jonathan B

Re-building Little Germany: GROUP B // This afternoon we finally put pen to ‘virtual’ paper! By splitting into two groups and drawing on a shared Miro board, we began to build on what we had learned through the week and propose developments for Little Germany. Amazingly, both groups through separate discussions developed very similar themes throughout their proposals. First was the identification of Little Germany as an area with rich historic qualities that are used in various period dramas on TV. This encouraged the groups to be considerate about which facades and buildings were kept and which were more disposable. This was dependent on their value to the area and its image for TV which has become a main selling point for the area. New interventions and ideas are then built around this concept, that Little Germany should become a new artistic, media fragment of Bradford and encourage more involvement from TV studios, but also become an area is which creative arts and media can be produced.

Both groups also identified that cars were a huge issue for the ground level of Little Germany. As such, both employed methods to keep traffic out of the area and place greater emphasis on giving control back to pedestrians. In doing so, car parks are placed around the periphery of the site, one group even proposed to submerge the car parks to help take them out of the space entirely!

The activity has taken a huge step towards developing our solution to Little Germany, we look forward to developing these ideas further at the start of next week!

Posted 14 May 2021 17:22

Group 21 / INSPIRE BRADFORD

Jonathan B

Re-building Little Germany: GROUP A // This afternoon we finally put pen to ‘virtual’ paper! By splitting into two groups and drawing on a shared Miro board, we began to build on what we had learned through the week and propose developments for Little Germany. Amazingly, both groups through separate discussions developed very similar themes throughout their proposals. First was the identification of Little Germany as an area with rich historic qualities that are used in various period dramas on TV. This encouraged the groups to be considerate about which facades and buildings were kept and which were more disposable. This was dependent on their value to the area and its image for TV which has become a main selling point for the area. New interventions and ideas are then built around this concept, that Little Germany should become a new artistic, media fragment of Bradford and encourage more involvement from TV studios, but also become an area is which creative arts and media can be produced.

Both groups also identified that cars were a huge issue for the ground level of Little Germany. As such, both employed methods to keep traffic out of the area and place greater emphasis on giving control back to pedestrians. In doing so, car parks are placed around the periphery of the site, one group even proposed to submerge the car parks to help take them out of the space entirely!

The activity has taken a huge step towards developing our solution to Little Germany, we look forward to developing these ideas further at the start of next week!

Posted 14 May 2021 17:21

Group 25 / IN THE OCEANS OF DIVERSITY

Giorgos P

Research on different Cultures

Today MArch and BA students looked at the different cultural backgrounds of residents within Nelson and researched their traditions including food, art, decorative patterns, trying to think how these could be celebrated in our design. When reflecting on our research we decided that the cultural diversity of Nelson could be visualised through patterns and tiles from different countries within South Asia, North Africa, Eastern Europe, the UK and The Middle East.

Posted 14 May 2021 17:20

Group 12 / SMART COMMUNITY

Kamila B

Today, students worked in groups to prepare for the presentation and meeting with Bryony Bond, Tetley’s Artistic Director.

In the morning, the students organized the work they produced during the week, and in the afternoon, Bryony joined the Smart Community team. Following the short introduction, each group presented their concept and design to our guest. Students explained the potential and opportunities of their projects, and Bryony provided groups with constructive professional feedback. Her suggestions and comments prompted reflection on current concepts and showed the potential for further improvements.

We are very grateful for the meeting with Bryony and for her time and knowledge. She helped us understand what is expected from the gallery space from the artist’s and artistic director's perspectives. Her comments will be a great starting point for the work next week.

Posted 14 May 2021 17:18

Yilin Z

Another productive day!
Today we have been running a speed model making exercise. In the session students are tasked to make their individual sketch model in several short intervals. The session allows participants to finalise their design scheme and quickly visualise their strategies in physical form. After completing the models students were encouraged to communicate and share ideas with their peers.

Posted 14 May 2021 17:17

Group 21 / INSPIRE BRADFORD

Holly S

Our week 1 masterplan has been produced by incorporating each group's concept design, combining aspects of structure, landscaping and signage. The diagrammatic plan outlines a basis for next weeks more site focused design, outlining potential opportunities and downfalls to each area.

The activity plan draws on the lighting strategy developed by the signage group as part of their week 1 work. Neon lights illuminate the Blue Line at night time, with signage acting as beacons. The plan highlights areas of activity along the river as well as connection routes to the city. These pockets of activity are spaces which could be developed further in week 2 as we begin to design on a more intricate scale.

Posted 14 May 2021 17:15

Catherine Zena P

Developing Conceptual Ideas // Drawing on the findings from our site analysis and the developing ideas from our '15-minute neighbourhood’ exercise, we worked in sub-groups to formulate some initial moves for the masterplan.

The first group considered the impact we could have on Little Germany should we demolish every building which is not listed. A large proportion of the buildings on the site are Grade II Listed providing constraints to the changing or demolition of such buildings. This study alarmed us to one particular road which had almost every building Listed and so forth enabled us to recognise its significance in Little Germany.

The second group studied precedents around the theme of interventions which could be translated into the masterplan design. They looked into a variety of interventions ranging from public space, urban sculptures, static interventions, urban fabric patterns and mobile pavilions. The precedents found offered an insight into potential ideas for transient activities which could bring back life into Little Germany.

The third group collated conclusions of the ’15-minute neighbourhood’ (FMN). Following the discussions with Arup, we began to consider the city of Bradford as its own ’15-minute neighbourhood’ and Little Germany playing a piece within that. Analysis then into the area of the wider context of the city, provided us with reflections on the site and ideas into the type of space that Little Germany needed to become to make a successful ‘FMN’.

Posted 14 May 2021 17:13

Group 14 / RE-SHAPING MARPLE

Jack R

Day 5 - Project Progress Update
This morning we split into our smaller groups to work on the separate buildings on the site and finalise the presentations for the afternoon. We collated the small group work together and presented our work so far to Joe Jessop and Judith from GT3 architects in the afternoon. They gave us feedback on our work so far with improvements mainly focusing on consideration of the park and the 'narrative' we want to convey within our designs. After that, we discussed the next steps which will be to develop a whole site strategy and better consider the landscaping between buildings to enhance their relationship with each other and with the park.

Posted 14 May 2021 17:13

Group 42 / CAN WE FIX IT?

Henrietta Ffion W

Day 04: AutoCAD Workshop/ RIBA Stage 4

We are making excellent progress with our designs using the RIBA Plan of Work and considering the Technical Design aspects of Stage 4. Most of the BA students prefer to use hand drawing or modelmaking to communicate their schemes. The MArch students held some AutoCAD workshop sessions to introduce the BA students to the rudimentary computer skills used to draw up CAD designs. We hope our students will begin to take these skills forward as they move through their architectural careers and future Part 1 roles.

Posted 14 May 2021 17:08

Group 30 / OUR PROUD PAST

What a week! A fantastic start to the Blueline project with full engagement from both our MArch and BA students. Despite the difficult circumstances working online this year, the team have been proactive and enthusiastic and we are proud of the work produced this first week. From interactive signage, modular structural systems and contextual urban landscaping, our overall masterplan strategies have been resolved and are ready in place for specific site analysis and prototype-implementation on Monday!

Posted 14 May 2021 16:55

Group 24 / INFRA GAME

Xinzi D

The team has amazing progress in analysing and redesigning the board game components. Clear work distribution helps each team member to develop the design of characters, dice, symbols, etc. The laser-cut and 3D-print file of dice and tiles have been almost completed.
The team is also enthusiastic about improving the game rule to deliver an exciting final board game to children. Team members are working on the missions and sabotage cards to make the game more cooperative and interactive. Good work team!

Posted 14 May 2021 16:39

Tim S

Paper Net Models - Finished

The modelling team have finished their paper net models. In the blog post you can see images of what they look like when assembled. The final nets will be uploaded onto the website at the end of the week so that everyone can building their own tiny LBGT+ centre.

The nets will be able to be printed on A4 paper to ensure that most people can print them out using their printers at home.

GO DOWNLOAD THE NET AND MAKE YOUR OWN NOW: https://ourproudpast.wordpress.com/the-future/

Posted 14 May 2021 16:34

Pardis N

Inspired by the market stalls along the river Seine in Paris, originally used by booksellers to sell used and antiquarian books.
We have designed market stalls made of OSB, which will be sustainably sourced and easy to construct with. They will be fixed in place to the wall along the cycle path, the stall-holders will then be able to open them up and put on display a variety of things to engage with the community and be a part of the daily city display.

Posted 14 May 2021 16:25

Joseph T

To create a physical barrier between our site and the adjacent road, the team began developing ideas for a wall constructed from reused tyres. We intend to fill the tyres with soil that can support the growth of plants creating a bucolic meadow bank next to the cycle path. The side of the tyre wall facing the road can also utilised as a location for sponsor logos to provide a source of funding for the development.

Posted 14 May 2021 16:14

Hi meet the BA1 , BA2 and the MLA students!

Posted 14 May 2021 15:47

Jack F

Alfred Waterhouse was the English architect of Manchester Town Hall.

Waterhouse was born in Liverpool and educated in Tottenham, London, before starting his architectural education under the architect, Richard Lane in Manchester. Turing this time Waterhouse took an interest in the writings of John Ruskin and Augustus Pugin, two figures who had greatly influenced the Gothic-Revival style of architecture, which Waterhouse later practiced.

Waterhouse won the competition to design the Manchester Town Hall, through his proposal using his signature watercolor painted perspective technique.

Posted 14 May 2021 15:47

Jemima E

We started today with a talk from Christina MacRae, Research Fellow from Manchester University and Nursery School teacher at Martenscroft Primary School (aged 3-5) which is located between the Lost Highway and Aquarius Centre. We invited Christina to speak with us as we were interested in how we might link up with the school and the Aquarius Centre, to marry the development along the Lost Highway with similar community lead initiatives.

Christina explained that at Martenscroft there is such a diverse cohort of children, much like the rest of Hulme. She talked about her work at the school, including integrating children and their parents within the wider community, explaining the benefits it can have on mental wellbeing and imagination. One example she gave was a 'Den Building Event'

She welcomed the prospect of redeveloping the Lost Highway into a ‘communal’ space, highlighting that green spaces that exist already were either intimidating or underdeveloped. She emphasised the improvement that even communal seating can have in make areas more inviting.

Martenscroft currently work together with the Aquarius Centre in maintaining allotment gardens which straddle both sites. Our hope is to join this partnership, creating pockets along the Highway which could also benefit the school and Aquarius Centre. These areas could be managed by a Parents Association at the school, local residents and The Workhouse Project.

Posted 14 May 2021 15:15

Big thank you to Ewen Miller for joining us today and encouraging our students to produce some amazing hand sketches in his Workshop!

After developing the site response drawings for one hour, the BA and MArch students have presented their very different design concepts. This activity was a great opportunity to practice their drawing skills and make use of tools such as inks, markers, tracing paper or watercolor!

Keep an eye on the @msa_sketchy_business instagram page to see all the work produced today!

Posted 14 May 2021 15:10

SKETCHING WORKSHOP WITH EWEN MILLER
Site Location : 39 Hilton Street, Manchester, United Kingdom

Prior to this morning’s sketching workshop, the students have been asked to look at the site on 39 Hilton Street and produce atmospheric responses, site analysis and discuss about their observations.

During the presentation this morning, Ewen Miller discussed about some of his projects, with an emphasis on the design process and final result. The talk was very insightful, showing that producing fast sketches or even tracing on top of Digital Models and Photographs allow a clear communication of the design concept!

After the talk, the students were given some time to produce a series of sketches showing their initial proposal for an intervention in The Northern Quarter.

Posted 14 May 2021 14:14

Making the theoretical fun!

This morning we discussed the meanings and differences between ‘SPACE’, ‘PLACE’ and ‘LANDSCAPE’. Even though there are no wrong answers, we concluded that a ‘place’ has a personal meaning, whereas ‘spaces’ and ‘landscapes’ are more ambiguous terms- detached from memory and without materiality.

The question now is, how can these discussions inform the graphical outputs?

Posted 14 May 2021 14:05

Schedule for Day 3 and Summer of the day is here !
10.00 - Group Catch Up
10:30 - Research Method Workshop
12:30 – Debrief

Team work! The MArch students today held a ‘group crit’ for the two teams on their produced work. Constructive criticism was vital and beneficial for the group to stay on track in order to meet our expected outputs for the final presentation. An open discuss was key, it allowed the team to stay comfortable with voicing their thoughts.

Posted 14 May 2021 14:04

Today we had the chance to meet the community of Chorlton-Cum-Hardy and had some insightful conversations with Historians and Authors about what it was like to grow up in the small town. Seeing how the different infrastructures built over time helped the community grow and influenced new generations to settle in the area was inspiring as it shows the power that Architecture has on regenerating historical places.
At the end we had a fun quiz game about Chorlton!

Posted 14 May 2021 13:54

Group 02 / MIXED SPACE

Siqi G

Imagine a space with different users and users in different spaces. This is our origional intention when starting the journey with Tetley. during the last three days, BA students were asked to find the identities of different users to Tetley, explore their activities in the space and test their stories with the Tetley building.

Posted 14 May 2021 13:35

Group 33 / ECOTSWOLDS

Kathleen K

Day 4, Food for thought
The team has been getting loads of inspiration from all our talks this week. Our last talk given to us by James Williams from Sero inspired us to look at other aspects of a zero carbon future.
1. The importance of infrastructure. Although great steps have been taken towards our zero carbon future, the infrastructure in place will only improve over time, meaning that the energy efficiency of a home will improve with it.
2. The home and grid balance. Energy can fluctuate throughout the day and so it is as important to think about energy storage as it is about energy generation.
3. The importance of data collection. Monitoring how our integrated systems work on a day to day basis can inform us about the efficiency of the products and suitability.
4. Promoting a zero carbon lifestyle. Innovative technology is only a tool in achieving our sustainable future. Reducing our carbon footprint is a collective matter.
You can find more information from the links below:
Website: https://www.serohomes.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sero-energy/

Posted 14 May 2021 13:15

Schedule for Day 2 is here !

10:00 - Briefing
10:15 - Presentation & Discussion
11:15 - Break
11:30 – Guest workshop and quiz game
13:00 - Lunch
14:00 - brainstorming/ Picking their route
16:30 - Debrief

Posted 14 May 2021 13:01

Group 03 / CIRQUE DU ARC

Madeleine A

Today we started by having a presentation on ergonomics. We looked at how ergonomic studies can be a great way to establish how much space each act takes up in performances and how much space an individual needs in each workshop to ensure safe social distancing. Ergonomic studies are the next stage in the design process, taking the concept studies from the Abstract Movements Workshop and analysing them in a technical manner. The presentation also gave examples of how these can be presented in an informative and aesthetic way, making a technical drawing look artistic.

Posted 14 May 2021 12:56

Group 02 / MIXED SPACE

Lian L

Day 4 Task:
In the fourth day of the task, the students were required, working in small groups, to integrate the stories created and the initial space design, and then to develop the specific space design of Tetley. The group 2 replanned the ground floor plan and extended the design to the outside, extending the space layout outwardly. Here are the results of the students.

Posted 14 May 2021 12:53

Today the landscaping and furnishes group worked on producing a number of visuals that describe multiple aspects of the landscaping theme. These aspects include the incorporation of furniture, consideration of split levels and the thresholds between pathways. These pieces of work provide a visual representation of each aspect which will be applied to the masterplan and respond to the changing context to provide one consistent route. An example visualisation is shown above!

Posted 14 May 2021 12:20

Our group signage strategy consists of two styles of sign - intermediate markers and interactive wayfinding signs. We have incorporated light beacons in order to promote a sense of safety and place-orientation. The interactive style of signage, shown above, provides a dynamic accessibility to the evolving riverscape, creating a user interface in a growing digital world...

Posted 14 May 2021 12:17

Jordan B

DID YOU KNOW?

Posted 14 May 2021 12:10

Ismael Z

Day 5,

Manchester Town Hall (Grade 1 listed) was designed by Alfred Waterhouse in a free Gothic style and built between 1868 and 1877. It is internationally acknowledged as an exemplar of it typology. Designed to fit a triangular island site, with three main ranges enclosing a triangular courtyard. The courtyard at the centre of the building is mostly filled by a rectangular Great Hall which contains outstanding mural paintings of the city by Ford Madox Brown.

With the current conservation and restoration of the project, there were many historical finds, identified as assets and of Grade 1 historical significance. Within our presentation from Liam on Wednesday we were also notified that amongst some of the historical findings, there were animal skeletons and several champagne bottles. Cheers!!

Posted 14 May 2021 12:09

Our third task was to produce a visual including site context to illustrate the atmosphere of the new structures proposed. The group developed a wide range of visuals where the different scenarios on site were addressed. From structures adjacent to the riverbank, to bridges going under archways and floating structures. Art installations were used to create intriguing environments that would improve user experience on site and increase pedestrian flow in the area next to the river. An example visualisation is shown above!

Posted 14 May 2021 11:55

Group 08 / MAKE BUILD

Qixian Z

DAY 5

Top Tips: Model Making!

We had the second of three sessions where we discussed how to choose digital model making software, shared individual tricks and experiences of making models.

Posted 14 May 2021 11:49

DAY 5

MORNING SCHEDULE - Sketching Workshop with Ewen Miller
Workshop starting at 11:00 am

Our team was very pleased to welcome Architect Ewen Miller from Calderpeel Architects as a special guest!
He discussed hand sketching and visual communication as essential elements of designing Architecture. As he showed a series of sketches he included process drawings similar to yesterday's activity. The workshop aimed to allow our students to express their thinking process through sketching and learn how to produce images to comprehensively explain their design concept.
The students were then asked to work for one hour on designing a concept for a chosen site in Manchester, having the opportunity to discuss their work with Ewen Miller at the end of the workshop.

Make sure to follow our instagram page @msa_sketchy_business, where we post daily updates of our students' work!

Posted 14 May 2021 11:39

Group 03 / CIRQUE DU ARC

Madeleine A

Now to get those pens and paper out… or paints… or clay… or even just stay on the computer! The aim of the Abstract Movements Workshop was to focus on one specific movement involved in each of the circus acts; considering the flow of body transitions, interaction with equipment and movement through the space. Notwithstanding, showing creativity in the presentation and making it look fun! It was great to see the range of media increase again from the Icebreaker from 3D models to the use of the motion blur tool in photoshop that was taught in the workshop.

Posted 14 May 2021 11:25