March Atelier: Advanced Practice

From: China

BA: Manchester School of Architecture (Platform)

Interests: Food / Travelling / Anime

Skills: Sketchup / Photoshop / Sketching / Thea Render

About: I gained my work experience in Hong Kong after I graduated from MSA, participating in several commercial projects. Personally, I am interested in the emotional connection between architecture and the users , and how to approach them through spatial quality and materiality.

The first church on the present site was opened in 1829 with the present church being completed in 1925. The history of the evolving community on this site is ripe for more scholarly investigation but it is a history of various ethnic groups and of the growing population of Rochdale.
The first church of any kind was opened in 1830. Fr. H. Walmsley ministered here from 1832 to 1834, when he was followed by Fr. E. Brown, who sacrificed his life in the care of the sick during an epidemic. It is thought that the first schools of the parish were held in cellars under the presbytery, attached to the chapel. A great deal of work for the parish was done during the long tenure of Father John Dowling, who was here from 1839 to his death in 1871. A brick church, capable of housing 500 people, and increased school accommodation were provided in 1860. Later it was separated in the same year, and gradually other districts were cut off from the mother parish: Whitworth opened 1860, Todmorden 1868, Littleborough 1879, Castleton 1879, Norden 1904. The parish has been governed by a succession of distinguished and eminent clergy Canon Edward O'Neill (1874-1895) came here after labouring for 17 years as chaplain to Manchester Infirmary and Workhouse; Canon John Boulaye, later Provost and Vicar General, was here for a time, and from 1898 to 1937 Canon Henry Chipp governed the parish and presided over the building of the present beautiful Byzantine church, finished in 1925. In recent years the parish has been under the care of Canon P. Kelly, Canon Theologian of the diocese. The church first appears on the third Epoch 1:2500 OS Lancashire map, published in 1930, when it has the same footprint as present. The campanile envisaged was not built at that time.
Built between 1923-25, the current church of St John the Baptist is a Grade II* listed building, upgraded in 2015 due to the importance and quality of the mosaics. The church was considered to be a notable Byzantine design which merited listing in its own right, but the quality of its mosaic decoration justified its upgrading to II*. The mosaics, which are the centrepiece of the sanctuary, are believed (by Oppenheimer scholars) to be one of, if not the best, the example of Oppenheimer’s work with international significance making it of artistic, historic and architectural interest.

Kicking off!

The team was divided into sub-groups that were based on different themes of History, Community and Culture. Students started off by researching for precedent studies. They then required to synthesis relevant concept and strategy that could be applied in the proposal. These were documented in a mind mapping exercise and 400 words write up. For the second half of the day, diagrams were generated for each proposal to visualize their design strategy. A final drawing from each group was then produced. We wrapped it up by having students presenting their proposal to the larger group with the full set of research and drawings.

Students have shown great understanding of three themes. They progressed from having a basic understanding of site and aims, to synthesizing site specific solution. These ideas were then brought to paper where the final drawing encapsulates the space, the scenario and the intervention. The proposals presented were interesting. They show the different strands of approach dealing with the issue of heritage. We are excited to see how all these ideas would progress further!

Background

Oswald Hill, a man whose story needs to be told. He was an architect and a patriot, so much so that he died commanding a squadron in World War 1. Nevertheless, his work has managed to live on more than a century later, one such structure is St Johns Baptist Church in Rochdale. Initially built to combat a growing population of Catholics in the area, it has now become intertwined into the history of Rochdale and it’s people. It is therefore important that the church is as visible as could possibly be in the context that it can be embraced and respected as part of the rich heritage that is Rochdale.

Concept

To increase it’s visibility we came up with the idea of a path that would be created leading towards the church. The inspiration for the path was from a maze as the path would implore a similar design. Along this path we would have readings that explained the history of the church and Rochdale. One would be able to walk to the church and at the same time learn about it and Rochdale. Furthermore, the path itself could double down as its own attraction apart from bringing traffic to the church, as it is bound to attract intellectuals.

Strategy

1) Learn about the history of Rochdale and St Johns Church, this could be done by research from secondary material with information available in hard and soft copy. The same information will be present in the readings along the path depending on the gravity it weighs.

2) Show research methods and sources, this is necessary as most of the information we would be using would be secondary sources (journals, articles, books) therefore credit must be given to the original author. Use this information to map out a plan in solving the issue of bringing more people to the church, this will be where we now place the information into our designs for the path as this is the solution we conceptualized.

3) Think about materiality and how the history will be visualized, this can be done by providing a timeline for the church and Rochdale as for materiality, the best way to go would be with the materials that provide the most aesthetically pleasing structure/design.

With this strategy we aim to remind the people of the role the church plays in the history and heritage of the town.

Background

Rochdale has a rainy climate. Providing protection from the rain is something the church could do with a shelter to embed itself in the community.

Concept / Strategy

Creating a space for the people to come together out of the wet and cold. Furthermore, this space could be dynamic in its purpose. During the day the church could use this space to facilitate local entrepreneurs and hold a small-scale market for the local community to interact with the church. As the sun sets and the lights dim the structure is illuminated by projections of the mosaic inside the church giving this space an entirely new aesthetic.

In addition, this structure could be used to host events for the people and become a community hub. Using the projection system movies and shows could be plastered on the walls creating a viewing event under the stars. Bollywood movie nights to entice the Asian portion of the community and Christmas matinee in the winter for those who are in festivities.

This dynamic space brings the vibrance of the church into its exterior and is very malleable to accommodate for the community. Moreover, the church being the first building seen when entering the town by train this new façade would better embody Rochdale. An energetic and moving space was envisioned where people could interact and enjoy the space together all under the gaze of the church building. This solidifies the relationship between the church and the Rochdale community.

Background

Culture is defined as the ideas, customs, and social behaviour of society. Culture reflected in architecture helps create or maintain identity. We wanted to be able to add further identity to the town and its church in order to advertise Rochdale for tourism. We have looked at the motif of a mosaic as a key driver in this project, as mosaics covey the image of the Rochdale church.

Concept / Strategy

We looked at the idea of creating a decorative pathway or pavement made up of colourful mosaic squares going from the main exit of the train station to the main entrance of Saint John the Baptist’s Church. The colourful mosaic tiles on the pavement could intrigue and lead the visitors to the church and the tiles could become increasingly brighter and more colourful once getting closer to the church. This would draw attention to the church but would also make the mosaic artwork on the interior seem like the thing they have took a journey to reach. This path could also become a tourist attraction (along with the Cathedral) which would then be shared online and attract further tourists from seeing these images of Rochdale’s famous pavement.

Furthermore, we looked at adding simplistic Dome installations around Rochdale to represent the cathedral and its culture. They would be big enough for one person or so to step inside where they will be surrounded by a mosaic interior. This adds something memorable to the town and contributes further to the identity of Rochdale. Again, viewers may also take photographs of these installations and share them online which advertises the tourism of the town.

Finally, we would add QR codes near or on placards on the installations which would allow tourists to learn about the cultural identity of the town through mobile. When visitors want to educate themselves on the culture, for example through the minimalistic Dome installations, information is easily accessible to them, and even share the information that they have learned through social media with friends and family with the press of a button. This aids the viewers interest in the town's culture and allows them to learn more about it. This could further lead to tourists seeking out the church when they learn that it is key part of the town's identity.

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.

Today, we run an abstract drawing workshop to discuss the techniques Dan Slavinsky presents in his architectural drawings. Students are tasked to create a thin line drawing as the base to add on abstract elements. By challenging the innovative artistic method to present their strategies, students are expected to have a deeper understanding of their schemes and be clearer of the aspects they would like to focus on.

Communitiy Group

Sketches from the previous exercise were overlaid and composed to form abstract architectural drawing. The loose nature of hand sketches prompts the team to break free from conventional building form. It explores how line weight , scale and composition of the individual sketches could structure the envisioned reality of the schemes. Juxtaposition of mosaics with walls and ground, relationship between geometry of the church and the proposed structure are translated into visual form.

History Group

Sketches from the previous exercise were overlaid and composed to form abstract architectural drawing. The loose nature of hand sketches prompts the team to break free from conventional building form. It explores how line weight , scale and composition of the individual sketches could structure the envisioned reality of the schemes. Juxtaposition of mosaics with walls and ground, relationship between geometry of the church and the proposed structure are translated into visual form.

Culture Group

Sketches from the previous exercise were overlaid and composed to form abstract architectural drawing. The loose nature of hand sketches prompts the team to break free from conventional building form. It explores how line weight , scale and composition of the individual sketches could structure the envisioned reality of the schemes. Juxtaposition of mosaics with walls and ground, relationship between geometry of the church and the proposed structure are translated into visual form.

Last day!

Today is our last day to work together. The BA students have shared their comments on the project and how the MA students organised it. It’s a pleasure to work with all the BA students and hope you enjoyed MSA Live. Have a happy summer!

Culture group reflection

Elena Grozeva:
I really enjoyed the guidance that we were getting throughout the project. The tasks were interesting, easy to follow and led us easily through the whole process. Also, the advice from the masters students was very useful.

Isabella Mearns:
I readjusted enjoyed the work we were given and the progress I have made on photoshop and other programmes. However I do wish that the groups were slightly more integrated with each other so I could get know the rest of the group better.

Jay Hooper:
The brief for each task was extremely specific, which was great because I knew exactly what elements and what style to create the graphical pieces with. I just wish there was a lot more discussions to bounce ideas around the entire group instead of our breakout ones.

Community group reflection

Daud Ahmad:
I liked the how the project was solid and had real world implications.

Ziyi Wang:
The project was really well planned and I enjoyed the activities. The guidance from the master students helped me understand how to convey information through graphics which I thought was very useful and meaningful.

History group reflection

Isaac Ndung'U :
I enjoyed the learning experience, it was a chance to know more about a new place (Rochdale) and structure. I also appreciate the guidance I got from the masters students while working it. Thank you.

Today the MA students will be working on the publication for submission.