Fifth Year Bachelor of Architecture students and Master of Urban Design students in Studio X 2006 were given the opportunity to travel to Manchester, England during a week in March in order to study the city urbanistically and architecturally as it relates to Pittsburgh.

As the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution with its textile mills and extensive network of canals, the city of Manchester is strikingly similar to Pittsburgh in terms of its size, urban growth and industrial history. Both cities are now focused upon the regeneration of waterways and the remediation of brownfield sites. However, the massive IRA bombing of Manchester’s city center in 1996 spurred the inspiring revitalization of that city’s historic core, transforming it into a thriving cultural and residential district: while three hundred people lived in the city center prior to the 1996 bombing, twenty thousand people live there today.

Three urban design projects within the comprehensive Manchester City Centre Master Plan have recently been highlighted in a publication and exhibition entitled “Groundswell” organized by the Modern Museum of Art in the spring of 2005, thereby bringing renewed international attention to the city. The architecture and urban design firms of both EDAW and BDP (Building Design Partnership), responsible for the Manchester City Centre Master Plan, Piccadilly Gardens and the Manchester Piccadilly Station Refurbishment respectively, invited our studio to tour their offices while Urbansplash, a private developer, led us on a walking tour of their new residential buildings and posh flats. The studio visited and analyzed these urban design projects, as well as key mixed-use programs that have contributed to the vitality of public space. The studio visited projects such as the Imperial War Museum North, designed by Daniel Libeskind; Trinity Bridge, designed by Santiago Calatrava; and Urbis, designed by Ian Simpson, a bold new museum that has as its focus the exploration of urban culture. Our trip led us to critically examine the redevelopment of post-industrial cities, with a focus on the environmental, economic and social issues that shape future urban growth.

PROJECT GALLERY