Group 10
URBAN ACUPUNCTURE

This project will collaborate with Castlefield Forum to help achieve their vision of a Cleaner, Greener, Safer, and Better Castlefield. ‘Urban acupuncture’ is a design tactic promoting urban regeneration at a local level; by developing neglected areas, enhancing green spaces and centering community needs. Our objective is to make a positive contribution to Castlefield, whilst conserving and enhancing its heritage assets, for the benefit of the community and visitors. Participating students will engage in the live project by carrying out data analysis, mapping existing urban conditions, and proposing place-making interventions to bring the community together.

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Monika E / Madison W

Madison W
Name: Johan bin Nor Azman

Hometown / Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Atelier: CPU [Ai]

Undergraduate Location: Infrastructure University, Kuala Lumpur

Practice Experience: T&T Architects working in residential, high-rise, and religious

Fun Fact: I’m most of the time excelled in the sports that I played for the first time!
Posted 15 Mar 2022 17:18
Madison W
Name: Raghav Garg

Hometown / Country: New Delhi, India

Atelier: Continuity in Architecture

Undergraduate Location: Manchester School of Architecture

Practice Experience: Bowker Sandler Architecture working in residential

Fun Fact: I can write with two hands!
Posted 15 Mar 2022 17:19
Madison W
Name: Maddie Woodhead

Hometown / Country: Huddersfield, UK

Atelier: Continuity in Architecture

Undergraduate Location: University of Liverpool

Practice Experience: Calderpeel Architects working in residential and AEW Architects working in industrial

Fun Fact: I’m named after a mermaid from an 80s film called Splash!
Posted 15 Mar 2022 17:19
Madison W
Name: Monika Ebrahimi

Hometown / Country: Varna, Bulgaria

Atelier: Infrastructure Space

Undergraduate Location: Queen’s University Belfast

Practice Experience: Burckhardt+Partner AG working in residential /commercial/educational and Urban Scale Interventions (USI) working in public engagement and small-scale interventions

Fun Fact: I can make a good chicken-sound impression!
Posted 15 Mar 2022 17:20
Madison W
Name: Samyak Jain

Hometown / Country: New Delhi, India

Atelier: MAKING

Undergraduate: School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi

Practice Experience : Auroservice working in Sustainable Research and Lirio Lopez working in Lighting Design

Fun Fact: I can touch my nose with my tongue!
Posted 15 Mar 2022 17:21
Madison W
Our collaborator is Castlefield Forum, a community group which became a Charitable Incorporated Organisation in 2019. Headed by a board of 11 trustees and supported by 97 volunteers, The Forum is run by the community, for the community.

Their primary objectives are: to protect and celebrate Castlefield’s rich history, by educating residents and visitors on the geography, history and culture of the area; to maintain an enjoyable environment for current residents, through running action groups such as ‘Castlefield Clean & Green’ who regularly carry out litter-picking walks; and to promote positive urban regeneration, by working with the council to uphold high standards of planning and architecture.

Not only this, but The Forum provides an excellent opportunity for neighbourhood interaction – in an area where many residents are transient, the opportunity for a sense of community is limited. The Forum help to encourage neighbourly connections through their action groups, and through our project, we hope to offer further interventions to enhance this side of the organisation.
Posted 15 Mar 2022 18:04
Madison W
The project aims to engage with our external collaborator, Castlefield forum in achieving their vision of a cleaner, greener, safer, better Castlefield. The area is facing issues with unused spaces, confusing vistas and fragmented ownership. This has caused Castlefield to lose its cultural value over the time and the residents to feel disconnected with the place. There is an opportunity to tell the story of Castlefield and re-imagine a cohesive cultural identity for the place.

The project aims to tackle this by documenting the area of Castlefield which can be used as a basis for future developments. The other focus will be on providing urban interventions in the form of improving the quality of green spaces and community interaction areas. The objective is to use architectural tools and ideas to promote a healthier and safer living environment in Castlefield
Posted 15 Mar 2022 18:05
Madison W
In the first week of the workshop, students will be taken on a tour around the area, where they will be introduced to the client whilst exploring key areas of significance. Following the walk, they will engage in a series of mapping exercises. Students will be supported through the provision of Digimap, Adobe Suite and Sketch-Up tutorials. At the end of the first week, students will engage with public consultation, where they will meet members of the Castlefield community and have the opportunity to ask questions.

During the second week students will be engaged in designing and digital modelling, where they will learn about architectural visualisations for the concepts they have developed. Using the previously acquired skills students will begin to finalise design ideas. Creativity and representation styles will always be supported, and students will choose how they wish to visualise their ideas.
Posted 15 Mar 2022 18:06
Monika E
Today, the team came together for the first time! We began our week with a tour of Castlefield, exploring the landmarks and getting to know more about the area. Along the way, the tour stopped at our favourite spots (which we learned about from Castlefield Forum) so we could begin to think about how we might improve these areas and enrich them for local residents.
Posted 16 May 2022 16:03
Monika E
The main stops on our tour were St John’s Gardens, the intersection between Duke Street and Beaufort Street, Castlefield Bowl, and Spinners Way. These areas all have their own unique characters – each with different advantages and disadvantages too! By visiting these places one after the other, we began to think about the opportunities each one has…
Posted 16 May 2022 16:03
Monika E
We chose three spots to focus on for our mapping study: ‘The Triangle’ (intersection between Duke Street and Beaufort Street), ‘The Bowl’ (Castlefield Bowl) and ‘The Street’ (Spinners Way). Their locations on opposite sides of the A57 offer opportunity to link together the community across the divide which the road causes. Each area has a very different feeling, so hopefully our interventions will all be contrasting too!
Posted 16 May 2022 16:13
Monika E
The day started with a Digimap workshop and students were divided into groups. Group 1 decided to focus on studying the demographics of Castlefield- age groups, population density, ownership status etc. Maps were downloaded from Digimap and edited on Photoshop and InDesign. Additionally, some infographics were produced by the group to representing the key findings. The group thoroughly enjoyed the mapping exercises and look forward to taking it further tomorrow!
Posted 17 May 2022 16:32
Monika E
The historic mapping of Castlefield shows the various key developments of the area from the Roman forts to the industrial revolution to the present day use of the site. Today the group researched and explored the past heritage of Castlefield and mapped out the key developments and changes that took place over the time that influenced the urban landscapes and street patterns of the area.
Posted 17 May 2022 16:33
Monika E
Today, group 3 conducted a study into the land use and context of Castlefield. By identifying the various building uses, we got a feel for the existing 'zones' (residential, commercial etc) - and came to understand the extent of the residential nature of Castlefield. We also looked at the culture hotspots of Castlefield and realised that the vast majority sit above the A57... This will help to inform our interventions later on, especially at 'The Street' site.
Posted 17 May 2022 16:34
Monika E
So far, we have hosted two workshops for the team - one by Maddie covering the use of Digimap, including tips on how to put a map into Photoshop for graphical purposes; and another by Johan covering basic skills and tips for using Illustrator, with a focus on the use of aerial maps for representation. Monika also offered Photoshop support for those team members who required some extra pointers. These skills have been put to use already in the mapping exercises conducted by the groups.
Posted 18 May 2022 15:53
Monika E
Today, the groups continued with the work they started yesterday looking at the history, demographics and land use/context of the site. By polishing up the information which was researched yesterday, the groups have each produced graphics to demonstrate their information. Also, we've begun to make a start on laying out the final publication, and even had an initial brainstorming session on ideas for potential interventions.
Posted 18 May 2022 15:54
Monika E
Today we allocated specific sites to each group, and we began to brainstorm design ideas for the different locations. We thought about interventions which would be free for Castlefield Forum to implement, alongside projects which would be low cost or require some investment. Ideas ranged from innovative lighting strategies to inventive street furniture designs, and the groups all made sure that their ideas were unique and appropriate for their sites. Sketching and collaging allowed for these ideas to begin to come to life...
Posted 19 May 2022 16:08
Madison W
Our finished collages! Each group compiled their ideas to create a unique collage for their designated site. They each reflect the unique character of the areas and offer different, bespoke ideas for the possible interventions. It's interesting to see the varied presentation styles chosen by each group too, which will make for a great client presentation on Monday...
Posted 20 May 2022 17:33
Monika E
The three groups presented their mapping exercises and design collages to the clients from Castlefield Forum. The ideas were appreciated by the collaborators and they also gave inputs to the students about what more they can expect out of this project! The group continued to work on more urban intervention ideas in the second half, and proposed design variations for different cost ranges.
Posted 23 May 2022 15:44
Monika E
The groups decided to make their design ideas come to life today! The students started working towards producing the final visualisations and began work on sketch up and other rendering softwares. Digital models were produced showcasing the different furniture ideas and spatial features. Some students continued sketching exercises from the previous day to further flesh out the design proposals.
Posted 24 May 2022 16:10
Monika E
The groups continued the work from the previous session: creating visualizations, sketches and iterative testing of digital model prototypes. A costing exercise was also conducted to propose design ideas at different price points to the collaborator. Additionally, the team also started work on the final publication and finalised the layout.
Posted 25 May 2022 15:54
Monika E
Today we had our final presentation with Calum and Nena from Castlefield Forum. We showed them our final designs and renders for each of the three sites and explained the concepts behind these ideas. The feedback we received was great, and the Forum were really happy with the varied designs we'd come up with - they said they'd be putting forward some our ideas to the National Trust immediately, as they're currently engaged in a project with them. Success!
Posted 26 May 2022 16:10
Monika E
The BA1 and BA2 team worked towards preparing the images for the publication: putting the finishing touches in and detailing them out. The year 5 students setup up the layout for the publication, and worked on the final deliverables. The MSA Live Session ended with joyous and gregarious goodbyes!
Posted 27 May 2022 14:51