yr5 portfolio sophie cosgrove
Project 1 RESPACE
portfolio index
4.2 4.3
project 2 in progress
appendix
"
it would have been easy to wallow in the past in a way that would not have connected to the present, but we needed to recognise and celebrate the fact that ancoats continues to have a life that is every bit as relevant as what has gone before. a cultural masterplan rests on the foundation of finding a way for a project to grow out of a place. what should it build on and how? doing something constructive with the hidden spaces discovered in the area was one of the corner stones of establishing a new public realm in ancoats. dan dubowitz, ancoats, 2011
"
respace a digital tool for regenerating east manchester through the reuse , revealing and of redundant buildings
revival
content sections
01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09
east man investiga 'social' m addresin tool pre theoretic tool dev the digit post digi
appendix pr
nchester ating boundaries mapping ng redundancy ecedents cal framework velopment tal tool italisation
rogresion of tool
exploration of east manchester, both a priori and on site to analyse current and historical state of the area. identifying an apparent issue which could be addressed to revive and progress east manchester into vibrant future.
01 east manchester
brief
to identify a latent issue within in east manchester and address this through the development of an interactive
tool
these images depict our starting point of mapping the history of east manchester. they highlight how the city centre urban grain and ‘identity has gradually started to encroach on the area. the far left images represent our prediction of the city centre
expanding radially
to encompass east manchester. thus east manchester is in a state of flux; the clash of two ’worlds’.
east manchester city centre
figure 3
manchesterea
ast
01
the next stage was online research into east manchester to see how it was portrayed by news and promotional sources. the websites depicted the area as an image of
‘
a fertile land destination.
’
ready for investment - a new urban
the maps represent the results of this online investigation with images of a burgeoning city with exciting new buildings and business opportunities. however on exploration the east manchester i witnessed wasn’t as portrayed in articles; rather it reflected old statistics and images of benefits and unemployment;
entrenched social problems.
as historically east manchester was a booming industrial area, but was since ravaged by effects of
deindustrialisation.
after suffering this decline of industry, the area was left redundant and static with was a vast array of vacant buildings; closed businesses and abandoned homes.
01
east manchester
exploration manchester has progressed to be one of largest regeneration schemes in post war britain, aiming for the generative urban described land described by the online sources. however, i only found this to be evident in my exploration on the edge abutting the city centre of east manchester. where areas such as sport city were
obvious catalyst for the regeneration scheme, with new transport links and improved connectivity to the city centre.
upon first impression i found the regeneration developments seemed
superficial, seeming to emerge from governments push for urban renaissance. where the buildings appeared anonymous and acontextual, imposing on the exisitng urban fabric.
however, the area is currently considered as in need of intervention, thus the difficulty is how to embrace the past whilst
progressing to the future
?
figure 4
city centre
"
"
cultural and lifestyle change will be required to be made by some residents to break
habits of a lifetime in order to improve quality of their life and health (neweastmanchester.co.uk)
"
contrast
stark
between pockets of deprivation next to seemingly ‘gentrified’ new insertions. highlighted in the photos by large regeneration structures encompassed by existing residential and industrial buildings. the council's regeneration aim was to reinvent area as ;
"
beacon
of
what
community should be .
"
modern
urban
as though the regeneration scheme accepted forcing new class of people as 'essential' to rebrand east manchester and attract investments, ignoring the existing social diversity of the area. east manchester has is enduring the awkward collision of two worlds phase before can progress onto future, playing the long game similar to the sinister dialogues talk series held in mmu , i find the topic of east manchester regeneration to pose the question of -
how do you address and embrace difficult past and bring into vibrant future
?
thus the exploration of how to achieve successful regeneration became the investigation. how to maintain existing character/ historic identity/community values whilst embracing future attracting new residents and improve quality of life
.
should east manchester be seen as a new build, or is it a
case of restoration? to answer this i first tried to define east manchesters current state and identity .
01
regeneration
through the exploration of site i found there was a
our investigation progressed to look at political and ‘social’ intrepetations of boundaries and if these influence cultural ‘identity’ within east manchester.
02 boundaries
boundaries
02
to begin our group study we looked at defined political/georgraphical boundaries through postcodes and ward maps; using ancoats, new islington and openshaw for analysis. openshaw was selected to emphasise the difference between the city centre affiliated areas and this more disconnected ward. we believed there is confusion of place and boundary, that these 'division lines' are malleable because they are
peoples' perception of place and personal interpretation of identity. dependant on
thus asking the question are the true boundary and identities of east manchester expressed through technical
?
or social boundaries furthermore we want to know what is happening to the ‘limbo zone’ of ancoats and new islington as it is gradually being absorbed into city centre status. whether this is this happening through governance or social demand;
i.e. is top down governing pushing certain areas, such as
these into regeneration and disregarding others, allowing for particular areas to flourish
" there is no logic that can be superimp
1
ward area relevant postcode area manchester postcode area 1km
2
posed on the city; people make it, and it is to them, not buildings that we must fit our plans
"
Jane Jacobs, The Life and Death of American Cities
1km lower middle class working class & non working no data
social class
we then progressed beyond this to analyse how do these lines geographically and spatially limit class statu
as such the first map looks at deprivation according to postcode area. this is measured by four crite value of deprivation is graded with how many of these four criteria are prevalent in the area. in the case of the lower postcode areas of east manchester they are on average deprived of 1 criteria. we edge of east manchester, on average have no deprivation, according to ‘postcodearea.co.uk’.
the second map shows social class status according to postcode area. there are four classes def class, skilled working class and working class. only lower middle class and working class were recorded in the postcodes we looked at. the lower middle
both maps illustrate social boundaries through political categories. we accept this information can be mis
would be non-working, they are perceived as deprived and non-working class, however the information te compared to inner east manchester.
figure 7 1km 1 dimension no deprivation no data
02
deprivation
us and equality
eria that include, education, health, housing and employment. the can see that post code areas m40 and m45, which are on the upper
fined by postcodearea.co.uk which are, middle class, lower middle class were closer to the centre and the working class were further out.
sleading as not all variables can be recorded, for example a student
ends to indicate that quality
of life
is better in the city centre zone
ancoats/new islingto
openshaw
city centre ancoats east manchester miles platting holt town figure 8
openshaw
socia droylsden
on
02
al maps
having looked at these political lines we believe that social maps are just as influential, if not more. to demonstrate the ambiguity of these social/human boundaries compared to previously shown official divisions we conducted short questionnaire with local residents.
the method
ask non suggestive questions about the surrounding area. we chose interview points spread along the official ward map to interrogate whether boundaries portray lack of correlation between social and political definition of area.
the questions ? where are we right now
where have you travelled from today
?
what is your purpose for being here today
?
what would you consider an identifying aspect of the area
?
results represented in map, as predicted neighbourhoods within east manchester are idiosyncratic and often bear little resemblance to offical boundaries or townships. ancoats/new islington map highlights diffusion of city centre into east manchester- possibly due to regeneration openshaw map reveals people were more aware of their geographical locality; corresponding more with official lines. however, identity was still a confusing concept, people particularly struggled to establish distinctive personalities of the area.
development of mapping to visualise local residents’ impressions of key aspects and characteristics the area, (or lack there of)
03 mapping 'social'
psychogeography - defined in 1953 by guy debord as ;
"
the study of the precise laws and specific effects of the geographical
,
environment, conciously organised or not
.
behaviour of individuals
"
on the emotions and
ref 4
(introduction to a critique of urban geography, 1955, guy debord)
'situationist' artists from the 1950s sought to capture the city as it was experienced by actual people, not as it was designed from the top down by architects and planners. their approach helped give way to a new emphasis in planning on output.
bottom-up citizen experience
and
our personal interpretation of this method was to ask people in conjunction with the questionnaire to map the area we were in to the best of their ability, highlighting points of interest; the focus points could be considered nodes of identity, establishing key areas which people relate to and interact with. we then collaborated these maps with the questionnaire results to form a single emotive map. the results of the phsycogeographic map showed there was
no
prominent 'identity' or culture which local people associated with
east manchester. the nodes highlighted were a mixture of leftovers from the industrial era (mills) and injections of investment (Etihad stadium). the lacking focal points of east manchester and the blur of the city centre boundary show east manchester was left with very little energy and in need of re-establishing itself. it can also be noted that the further out from city centre we travelled the less nodes of interest could be found with no coherence between them.
mills canals areas parks nodes city stadium picadilly station chips figure 9
03
phsycogeography
forcasted
03
the aim was to put in motion a regeneration which would inspire cultural
cultural masterplan
transformation; a individual and disparate aspects of east manchester.
to choreograph the
great cities look to past as well as their future, they preserve while moving confidently forward. we want to achieve this, doing something constructive with the hidden spaces revealed in the area to invigorate new life. there is a ‘stand-off’ of progress versus heritage in the (top down) manner of imposing regeneration through large investments. our philosophy, however, is not about the physical rebuilding of the city to make change, but instead it is
recognising, seeding and amplifying a native condition already latent in manchester, (art).
about
we want to merge minimal infrastructure alteration with spontaneity and an element of serendipity to renew an ageing part of the city, cultivating new activity and life in the area.
figure 10
establishing of digital tool basis to act as platfrom for addressing issues raised during mapping excercises. this section explores the logic and reasoning behind the project.
04 addressing redundancy
platform
respace
following our mapping research and consultation with anne taylor (head of east manchester regeneration sector in the manchester city council) we established the need for a platfrom to aid the reuse of the plethora of vacant and redundant buildings within east manchester. anne emphasised the need for intervention in the area, a scheme to run paralel with large scale interventions into the area implemented by investors and council. consequently we decided upon a space advertising tool, directed towards ‘creatives’ as potential tenants (artists, small buisness owners, designers etc). the tool’s aim is to form a community of independent businesses in
platform to uncover and discover new
the area to create their own network, acting as a
allow these creative people potential foci of east manchester. to draw out the potential underlying in east manchester and encourage a new creative sub-culture for the area to build upon.
this will hopefully generate data (for government regeneration) to observe growth and contribute to communication and dialogue between the participating citizen and governmental regeneration bodies.
figure 11
04 figure 12
this diagram represents the simple system of the digital tool, where landlords creatives (e.g. artists, designers, small buisness owners) and visitors connect via respace to with
the
creative
inject enterprise into aim
to
unused buildings and spaces. addressing the issues of redundancy and declining culture within east manchester. to encourage and allow growth of economy whilst also naturally stimulating development of personality/culture of place, rather than imposing it.
vacancy
reveal
occupy space
reuse
use space
revive
respace
own space
1
figure 12
civic pride
economic growth
research
culture
political growth
social cohesion
2
sufficiency
why artists
??????
economic growth sufficiency
social cohesion
culture
political growth
research civic pride
04
cultural
capital
we chose to focus on artists as culture is now positioned at the centre of many urban policies. it has become a delivery vehicle for all manner of outcomes including social cohesion, sustainability, economic growth, civic pride, and an ever-increasing array of social, economic and environmental goals. this trend was highlighted by a recent report by the department of culture, media and sport (uk) which states
"
"culture
drives regeneration in many ways, from inspiring landmark buildings through to reviving the decaying centres of towns to bringing a community together around an arts ref 5 event
(2004)
while the attractiveness and condition of the natural environment and built form are certainly important, so too is
the presence of a rich cultural scene and a high concentration of people working in (cultural occupations). activity is the driving factor to encourage regeneration. the presence and concentration of 'artists' in an area creates a milieu that attracts other types of talented and high capital individuals. the presence of such human capital in turn generates innovative, technology-based industries. the diagram on the left (1) shows the usual form where enitities of urban renewal as separate, growing and contracting on their own merit. we want to place culture as the central focus (2), influencing the other factors around it so they all grow together .
"
through our tool we enable artists (defined pg 4.1)
as the urban pioneers; they are the people that possess cultural capital and the resourcefulness to amplify social value and to create. we also decided to focus on artists as they follow the provision of space if it is appropriate and affordable, space creates demand. they are often socially and professionally dominant while economically marginalised.
as such they are more tolerant and thus willing to move into marginal neighbourhoods and unmanaged spaces. they are compelled to take advantage of inexpensive real estate, and in this way are able to turn vacant spaces into
opportunity.
04 wh
figure 13
3
hy artists?
creative class ‘the rise of the creative class’
in richard florida chronicles the economic evolution of society, with a specific focus on the role of human creativity. he suggests that the 'industrial age' economy theory showed 'people follow jobs', whereas in the modern 'knowledge economy' it is suggested that :
jobs follow talented people. the replacement of raw materials with human capital as the crucial wellspring of economic growth means success in the emerging age can come from attracting and retaining creative people. they are able to innovate, develop technologies and power economic growth. however, we are critical of florida’s analysis. according to florida, toronto was the ideal example of creative city success. he states: "in toronto a thriving multidimensional creative centre". years of calculated planning went into the restructuring of toronto along the creative economy lines. it experienced a provoked
're-embourgeoisement',
re-regulating by sanitising, controlling, and sub-urbanising inner-city spaces,
“
so as to transform them into sites for elite culture and spectacle. ref 6
“
they adopted florida’s creative class argument and rhetoric for competing talent, and in so doing, forsook many of their local citizens to cater to the creative class. artists took it over, luring developers and buyers into the area, who are now transforming the industrial hump into a bohemian wonderland. jane
jacob's published in 2004 identifies toronto as a city in crisis, acknowledging the serious failure of toronto to respond to the needs for public housing. citizens were pushed off the streets and into their designated corners of the increasingly gentrified
city.
04 figure 14
04
gentrification
vs regeneration
when we say gentrification we are referring to the general definition of gentrification as the process of
wealthier residents moving to an area, where changes occur due to the influx of wealth. as a result of this, the neighbourhood begins to change. this will spark an urban renewal process, which cleans up the town, but often leads to an increase in rent, taxes, and other items. sometimes this change means that the previous residents can no longer afford to live in that neighbourhood . regeneration in biological terms is defined as a means to recreate lost or damaged tissues, in geographical terms it means improving an area that has been experiencing a period of decline. the core aim of
regeneration is to rejuvenate an area, this desire cannot be achieved without encouraging immigration inwards to help repopulate, and persuade investment into the area.
as such, regeneration is synonymous with the base causes of gentrification. .
the diagram shows the process of emmigrartion with the possibility of local displacement and the parallel
revival and renewal that accompanies the process
wealthier class
poor area
increase living cost
investment
displacement
movement business
transport
revival activity
new residents
density
community diversity
figure 15
sport
schools
diy urbanism
04
manchester city council set up their own policy for regeneration. their statement is to -
"
secure and manage a range of funding streams‌to support the city councils objectives, particularly those relating to the regeneration of manchester and improvement of the economic and social prospects of its residents ref 7
"
they began implementing this with projects such as the etihad stadium and chips building. this has already started the motion of gentrification as well as large scale external investments from the abu dhabi group. artists invariably lead to gentrification, as shown by examples such as berlin and london. but, as with all gentrification processes, we have to ask whether the improvements outweigh the downfalls
?
our aim is to establish a more natural and unrefined improvement of the area. we believe activity is the most important factor in turning around redundancy. we want to involve the
community to create a harmony between old and new; using existing structure spread through neighbourhoods to inspire a revival of culture. rather than top down governance, like the toronto example, where the government and higher powers implicate and force change, we want to use an alternative system for area to thrive organically, to 'hack the city' from the bottom up, do it yourself urbanism. the photos on the left highlight council’s existing regeneration inducements in east manchester. whilst images on the right represent the aims of our project; for artists to infiltrate, reusing reviving and revealing vacant spaces, for personal scale intervention
figure 16
figure 20
figure 17
precedents for both the physical building of the tool and the theoretical aims of the app. in this section we investigate the successful aspects of these schemes which wanted to adopt and apply and the negatives to avoid.
05 tool precedents
05 figure 23
another precedent for our tool is creative spaces, a program of the city of melbourne. it partners with government, philanthropic, private organisations, and educational institutions to provide space for arts and cultural production. the program underwrites cultural production by letting, subletting and developing affordable space for the creative industries. where space is available it lets it, where space is in short supply, it creates it.
government
creative spaces
the website also assists international practitioners and organisations to assess creative spaces across australia for their touring shows or temporary work spaces. the future melbourne group quote the benefit of the website as,
"
ref 8
"
artists contribute to Melbourne’s vibrancy, and their presence enriches all of our lives.
this is a literal precedent for our tool as it collects the data of available spaces and advertises it on one website. however, the properties listed are all developed and prepared for use, not necessarily with low rent. our tool offers cheap blank spaces ready for intervention, hopefully allowing for a more bottom up and community based development. then post use the building will be marked with what activity and facilities it is left suitable for.
creative spaces
vacant space creative business
tech-hub
space project
tech-hub and sharp
figure 24
figure 25
05
tech hub and sharp project
are a local
precedent based in east manchester; they provide physical and virtual spaces which enable technology start-ups to work smarter, develop faster and increase chances of success by connecting with like minded individuals.
figure 26
project
they create ecosystems which allow growth as companies collaborate as well as compete. tech hubs motto is meet, work, learn, collaborate. however, although these projects encourage cooperation between the techies involved, they are shut off from the community, hidden behind layers of security, avoiding interaction with local community. we want to create more serendipity, spreading a more organic development and use events to relate the participating artists to the outside community.
renew newcastle was such a success it was used a model for further implementation throughout australia
05
5
vacant space figure 27
creative space
creative business
renew
unstable
risk gentrification
renew newcastle is an example of
revitalisation of empty spaces through group efforts. the non for profit company brought transitional buildings of newcastle to life again, catalysing community renewal and economic development with the arts and creative industries across newcastle. renew newcastle stated that they wanted to redesign their culture in order to successfully redesign their city. the overall aim was to
rebrand the area.
the creative interventions of renew newcastle stimulated the area, creating jobs , increasing spending in the area , generating economic activity and made city a more desirable place to live in. in less than two years after its creation, as direct result of renew newcastle's activities, more than 20 new business and initiatives had been seeded in the area. the licences negotiated guarantee that rights remain for property owners to repossess with limited notice. it manages premises and occupants in and out , chucking the client out when better opportunities come along. we want to create a more sustainable and long term intervention where artists have the opportunity of both short and long term adoption to the area. this system of in and out displaces the artists almost immediately, fast tracking and prioritising the gentrification process.
figure 28
nfasp
was set up in 2007 in response to an expressed need and demand for a national body for studio. arts council england, ace granted nfasp three year funding from 2008 which was extended, and received additional ace grants for the arts awards. their mission is to
secure, improve and increase affordable studio provision in the uk.
acme studios
is a london based charity formed by artists in 1972 which supports the development of fine art practice by providing artists with affordable studio space. acme is recognised as the leading studio development organisation in england, it currently receives funding as an arts
council England national portfolio organisation, npo. it creates a permanent and
network of affordable, accessible and professionally managed studios for artists.
sustainable
nfasp and acme both create successful networks between individuals and organisations, of collectively over 7000 artists. these examples show the success of studio initiatives in the uk and the possibility for
launch and maintain attainable rent.
funding to
the tool, maybe even secure funding to assist artists in maintaining
figure 29
funding
05
bodies
this section describes the theoretical texts and perspectives which we chose to apply and integrate into the core of our digital platfrom
06 theoretical framework
deep democracy describes the work of an alliance
formed by three civic organisations in mumbai to address poverty in the slums.
mutual exchange
the alliance seek to redefine what governance and governability really mean, they do this by putting the knowledge of the poor at the centre of their work. they try to remain politically neutral and drive change through setting precedents, such as housing exhibitions and toilet festivals and self surveys. using these tools they negotiate support and policy change. the alliance use a horizontal structure collaborating with the urban poor as an instrument of deep
democracy. deep democracy is "democratic" because it emphasizes that every voice matters and that decision are wisest when majority and minority voices are both valued.
bottom up
it is "deep" because it goes far beyond the conventional methods of facilitating the exchange of ideas and instead surfaces emotions, values, beliefs, and personalities to inform and enrich the group's process. unlike "classical" democracy, which focuses on majority rule, deep democracy suggests that all voices, states of awareness, and frameworks of reality are important. deep democracy also suggests that all the information carried within these voices, levels of awareness, and frameworks is needed to understand the complete process of a system. deep democracy is an attitude that focuses on the awareness of voices that are both central and marginal. deep democracy promotes a horizontal exchange whereby all acting party's voices are seen as equal and communication is key
the diagram explores the mutual and equal relationships established by the alliance to the slums and government to implement change. they use their precedents to create networks of globalisation from below. the alliance understands that it's methods in using knowledge of
top down
poor by the poor for the poor
the
is a slow process, politics of patience being a long term political strategy.
06
deep
democracy
the alliance
figure 30
06 deep
democracy
diagram visualises relationships of alliance to the government by the poor with the poor for the poor
06
with regards to our studio project and our ecological standpoint, we want to apply the basis of deep democracy to provide a horizontal exchange with equal links between users and professionals , which subsequently applies to our next reading; rotor.
equal and parallel connections between
this diagram shows the
the different users involved in our tool, shown are the landlords of vacant property, the possible renters and visiting users of the tool. . any project is inevitably influenced by the government, even with a bottom up approach as illustrated by the alliance and their relationship with the shiv sena, in mumbai.
inte
figure 31
egration of theory
space
tool ethos
figure 32
landlords renters other users
rather than top down governance implicating redevelopment or the typical guise of
up'
'bottom
where community is simply feeding information back to the top, we will offer an
alternative system
to revive vacant zones and buildings in the area. grassroots and the previously mentioned diy urbanism is put in place
to encourage a natural organic the area, rather than imposition.
revival
of
democratic political and social structures, with their shared governance, cooperative ethic, and educated citizenry are much more likely to lead to successful adaptations for future changes. to deal rationally and creatively with urban pressure, in contrast to autocratic societies with their a priori approach to decision making.
06
06
theoretical
frameworks
connections we progressed our study with more readings to support our ecological
and
socio-economic standpoint.
the diagram shows analysis of the appropriate aspects of each reading which we wish to apply and how they relate to each other
long term growth
overcoming geography global economy
clean power climate and biodiversity
species survival
normative approach
reaching disconnected people social interactions
governance
expensive short term
figure 33
peaceful motives
spread of wealth
06
the age of
sustainability the text outlines the relationship of four complex systems in conjunction with technology in order to achieve sustainable development. these include global economy, social interactions, climate & biodiversity and good governance. these are approached through a normative (or ethical) perspective. jeffry sachs outlines sustainability as a key concept of the modern post industrial revolution era, where the world population is growing exponentially as the rich-poor divide grows wider. the agenda calls for
socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable economic growth. ref 9 one of the issues from the text which we chose to address were climate and biodiversity increased co2 as buildings contribute as much as 30% of total global greenhouse gas emissions. co2 emissions resulting from demolition and waste removal are a major contributor to the co2 produced during the construction process. through reuse and refurbishment of existing buildings in east Manchester our project’s main ecological stance is determined. another promotes gdp is not a measure of well-being, for which we propose businesses to occupy these vacant sites and in doing so to increase production in the area, however we are also nurturing a greater well-being through a promotion of culture, not just gdp.
rotor
reuse of materials cradle to cradle
06
=
biological
technical
design
architecture
figure 34
l
e
rotor are a group of people based in Belgium who advocate
ultimately to be sustainable we need to address the minimal amount of materials that are available for the production of buildings and products.
engineering
it is their belief that to attack the issues identified reuse of materialsthe design process itself needs to be re-evaluated, starting with how designers, architects and engineers approach the use of materials and how this integrates into the current design practice. they explore the professional feasibility and limitations of
reusing resources
available to design professionals with the idea to find ways to integrate and initiate the reuse of materials throughout the preliminary to the final design stages.
integration of theory
with regards to our own project, we are taking rotor’s
ecological standpoint
quite literally by attempting to reuse and revive the vacant buildings in east manchester.
climate change is a contemporary global area research and concern. the built environment has an unmistakeable role in this debate, not only does it demand of global resources approximately whilst generating a significant amount of waste.
40% %
as such building reuse is rapidly becoming an unavoidable global topic. irwin chusid, a self-described "landmark preservationist," describes existing buildings as
06
ore’;
‘urban
a mine of raw materials at our fingertips, an opportunity. furthermore rather than undertaking demolition and deconstruction to obtain these materials, assigning them to new employment, we propose taking it further leaving the existing structure intact. this not only reduces cost but also time and waste of conversion process (currently of waste in the UK is building waste ) which translates into wider environmental advantages.
24%
“
ref 10
architect carl elefante coined the phrase,
“
the greenest building is one that is already built. ref 11
in our project we have followed this philosophy, promoting the conservation of buildings throughout the east manchester area, addressing the vast array of vacancy. implementing adaptive reuse, a sustainable option for the reclamation of sites. a way of reducing urban sprawl, preserving virgin materials, and encouraging energy conservation.
reuse space
explanation of the tool systems, relations and functions broken down, with visulaisations of the data input at 3 scales; big data, spatial and personal.
07 tool development
07
input and
desired outputs
the diagrams represents the systems of the app with our attempt to progress the tool in keeping with the core ideas of deep democracy whilst incorporating aspects of our other readings. the idea is to have
cyclical input and output. the overall outcome aim is
reuse
the vacant
revive abandoned buildings invigorating area with new culture and reveal hidden
spaces,
the aspects that have been there all along but drawn out through the tool. one of the outputs are newly established artists who then input their information profiles and newly formed networks (coops and collaborations) onto the site. our philosophy is not about the physical rebuilding of the city to make change, but instead it is about
recognising, seeding and amplifying
a
native condition already latent in manchester, [art]. we want to merge minimal infrastructure alteration with spontaneity and an element of serendipity to renew an ageing part of the city, cultivating new activity and life in the area.
reciprocity; the notion that not only do we construct our built environments, but they also shape us and our relationships with one another.
revi
ive
respace figure36
revive reuse reveal
figure 37
07
respace
revive reuse reveal
the data input comes from the landlords who upload information about their space to create building profiles for letting and renting. this information wil be categorised by location, type, lease time and price. artists can then ‘find a space’ listed on the site and contact the connected landlord. landlords can rent space for short term lease of 1day - 1 month to allow for drop in and installation artists in brief need of space to take advantage of vacancy once a property is purchased, the owner is considered a landlord and may rent out extra space/rooms or advertise for coop to get invloved in .
artists can upload information of events hosted in their space. ranging from workshops, exhibitions and sales of artwork
figure 38
through these events and promotion respace encourages local involvement and civic pride, whilst the area sees social improvement over time, creating enriched social value and social networks
profiles tab can be used to advertise the artists involved and as a social network amongst the creatives to encourage a community of like minded creatives in the area. local residents can also create profles on the network to collaborate with artists or enquire for creative workshops ‘case studies ‘ are uploaded by the residing artist and can be browsed to see previous usage of a space or what art the neighbouring spaces are involved in.
07
figure 39
respace
revive reuse reveal
figure 40
case studies homepage is in essence the success stories of the area but also allows creatives and visitors to see what is hapening locally and links to the artists work. it provides the benefit of advertisement even after the artist has left the space
coop tabs are placed throughout the site to promote collaboration between the artists. encouraging purchasing of the spaces. this is to aid a more sustainable long term interventuion rather than artists be displaced once economy starts to grow
figure 41
year 1 figure 42
07
future aims
diagram shows aspirational outcomes of tool; reviving east manchester through new creative ‘microculture’ drawing in population and visitors to events
year 10
vacancy map
07
we began composing the data for creating the tool by mapping points according to a manchester government spreadsheet (last updated in june 2014) of vacant properties throughout east manchester. we selected those of suitable size and condition to propose for artist intervention. the map highlights clusters of intervention oportunities which could create networks between artists and a micro-culture which could expand and radiate accross east manchester, sparking the revival. deep democracy highlights the importance of ‘politics of patience’; in essence we are attempting to apply this long-term theory to the revival and regeneration of east manchester and its containing areas. this map shows the clusters of ancoats and gorton figure 43
07
ancoats the next stage of our mapping took us to look at the buildings on a spatial scale. we went around east manchester taking photos and finding property details of
selected buildings,
50
such as square footage and landlord information to upload onto the site. looking at the map at this scale shows the possible clusters of studios which could form denser interventions and networks of artist to create a
cultural scene,
rich presence of
as we working under the basis that activity is the driving factor to encourage regeneration. figure 44
figure 44
07gorton the maps highlights how areas neighbouring the city centre, such as ancoats have more appropriate available spaces marked. due to the amount of old warehouses and buildings left from industrial period. which in turn porovide the opportunity of forming denser clusters.
whilst places further out, like gorton are mainly residential areas and have less spaces available to be mapped on the tool. this could aid in avoiding the displacement aspect of gentrification as residential areas are more lightly affected by the process with less interventions.
figure 45
data input
07
data input
07
figure 45
07
these diagrams show examples of the data we collected of the 50 investigated buildings, which would be displayed on the tool interface as building profiles. it states location, dimensions and suitability of the space, describing the place and what activities it can house. if the property has been used before by a client of the website the space will be marked with it's previous uses. eventually the hope is that the building will be accepted and adopted as this use permanently.
building prolies
figure 45
32 george leigh street
building profiles
07
figure 45
15 - 19 jersey street
08
we began looking at examples of artistic
and
interfaces,
creative
web
to ensure the app evoked the artist message and was attractive to users.
maad
is
an example of interesting graphics and interactivity, clicking on the rings results in sliding images which scroll over each other to reveal the option behind. furthermore each time you return to the homepage with the maad title the photo behind changes. our aim was to have
over section
large scroll
where the maps overlapped each other , alternating information. however, time and lack of coding experience did not allow for this advanced motion on the interface. thus we accepted a simpler homepage system,
gr
preced
raphic
dents figure 46
figure 47
occupying east mancheste
09
outcome
er
refuelling activity and desirability in east manchester through diy adaptive reuse of unappreciated spaces