15/03/2021. 11:00am. Meeting with our collaborator, Joe.




This morning we had our second meeting with our main collaborator Joe Jessop. This was organised to catch up and discuss the session plan that we have been working on. Joe gave his input and we discussed the option of a live site visit to really capture the sense of place. This will encourage the team to learn by looking, by exploring, by experiencing the space, something that is difficult to do online.




We then continued to discuss the complexity of the brief and outputs. Joe gave us some workshop ideas that will help to determine the brief and programme for the community hub. This meeting was particularly helpful with the submission date of our session plan fast approaching. Stay tuned for further updates!

DAY 1 !

DAY 1 - Morning:
Following a friendly introduction, Juliet and Dilan introduced the project, taking the team on a virtual site visit using maps and images, compensating for the lack of site visit. This helped the team understand and orientate the site before our collaborator, Joe presented later in the morning.

Day 1 - In the afternoon, Joe returned and talked about creating a ‘sense of place’ using psychological foundations and the work of Urban Planner, Kevin Lynch. A valuable starting point for our project which opens up further questions... is the park a node? Could the park become a landmark?

DAY 2!

DAY 3!

Day 3 - Presentation from Eamonn




Eamonn gave the team a presentation regarding the key principles of Urban Design, using examples from his students who are on the Architecture + Urbanism course. Eamonn explained the following principles: Patterns, Narratives, Monuments and Spaces. Each of these had a strong correlation to the work we had already done as a group including the exploration of Marple using Noli maps, the importance of the history of Marple in creating a narrative and more. And so, the following questions were raised: Can the redevelopment of Marple Memorial Park reinstate the productive nature of Marple? Can the new community hub become a monument through a striking design or aesthetic? These questions will be explored in the remaining days of MSA Live in the hope to produce an exciting, yet sensitive output.

DAY 4!

Day 4 - With our site being located in a park, there are numerous boundaries and edges. Ian Fisher, a landscape architect and staff member at the Manchester School of Architecture, talked us through each constraint and offered suggestions on how to better them and our initial proposal. This included providing more spaces for reflection, engagement and activity. These urban design elements will be the teams focus in Week 2 and so it was really useful to have them introduced now!

DAY 5!

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!

Week 2 schedule is coming! In week 2 we will continue the work based on feedback from the 1st week. Have a good 'Journey' !

DAY 6!

Day 6 - Refining the Landscape
The afternoon session was dedicated to explore landscaping options within our masterplan in order to present a convincing narrative. This will help to create new connections to the rest of Marple and expand the usability of the park. In smaller groups, we focused on different parts including the most public entrance to the park and a new, more pedestrian friendly entrance to the west. Making the park more accessible will help it become the heart of Marple and a real focal point, something the residents in the morning desired strongly. We will continue refining these ideas over the next couple of days!

DAY 7!

The collection of people's ideas about landscape design today, lots of works with sketches and digital model!

DAY 8!

DAY 9!

DAY 10!

Great thanks to everyone!

Day 10 - The last day!

Very happy experience with all of team members over the two weeks, thanks to everyone's efforts!