Sanderson, L., Lee, S.J., Stone, S., 2019.

Rochdale by Way of Venice

Research Seminar Presentation as part of the IPM + MSA Special on the High Street.

Abstract:
Deep significance is attached to familiar places by individuals and by communities, and thus, complex relationships can develop between the residents and the place that they inhabit. This quality that is present in the nature of the buildings and the streets is often generated by the ordinary actions of local people, many of who believe that their identity is essentially tied to the place that they inhabit.

Continuity in Architecture, a post-graduate studio for research, practice and teaching at the Manchester School of Architecture has been working directly with the local communities of Small Settlements surrounding the city, to develop meaningful and productive proposals for the development of the built environment.

Collaborative practices are embedded within this pedagogy. Partnerships have been established that break the boundary of the traditional educational establishment. These include relationships with local architects, with official organisations: town councils, planning departments, Twentieth Century Society, and English Heritage, and with unprofessional societies such as Neighbourhood Planning groups, and Church committees.

The Atelier encourages an awareness of particular craft-making processes, this practice goes beyond the studio and into the factory; for example, terracotta works and cast-iron foundry. Students developed detailed and ornamental elements that were directly forged from their understanding of material and place.

The students also worked with academics from different disciplines; including English, Ceramics and Geography. Relationships were established with poets, who interpreted the place in a similar manner with vastly differing results (verbal rather than visual).

The first section of the presentation will discuss the embedded nature of this radical approach within the contextual practices of the atelier. The second section will explore a series of collaborative live design projects. The final section will show how these research-through-design projects have directly led to significant developments in the public planning of local places.


Event Timetable:
Dr Steve Millington, Institute of Place Management
Future Retail City Centre Project
Gary Warnaby, Professor of Marketing
Retail in the Eye of the Beholder: Choosing Authenticity in an Experience Society
Steve Miles, Professor of Sociology
Rochdale by Way of Venice
Laura Sanderson, Sally Stone and John Lee, Manchester School of Architecture
Linking the High Street with the Context of the Town - A Case Study of Historic Landscape Approaches
Dr Luca Csepely-Knorr, Manchester School of Architecture
A Demonstration of how Architectural Practice can Collaborate with Independent Retail Experts to Enhance Footfall and Profits through Careful Planning and Investment
Stephen McCusker, Manchester School of Architecture.
North West High Streets on Film
Marion Hewitt , North West Film Archive
Fashion - Winners and Losers
Maria Malone, Principle Lecturer in the Fashion Institute
Manchester Centre for Public History and Heritage
Michala Hulme, Manchester Centre for Public History and Heritage
Making the High Street: Improvement and Image in the 18th and 19th Century
Jon Stobart, Professor of History