Dominika Wochowska, Continuity atelier, MArch 1

Brief background: I’m originally from Poland, but my architectural journey began in England, where I completed my undergraduate …More
course at the University of Sheffield. I’ve always been passionate about designing spaces for children and participatory design, which I experienced first-hand while working as an architectural assistant in Leeds. I love model making and diagramming. I also enjoy experimenting with colours and materials that evoke emotions or influence users’ comfort. I chose this project for the museum because it combines my interest in children’s architecture with my passion for visiting museums and experiencing interactive, inspiring spaces.

Skills: Pencil drawing, model making, Adobe Suite, ArchiCAD

Interests: DIY, travelling, skiing, cooking

Hello everyone! Meet the collaborators!

We're excited about the upcoming Action Weeks and can't wait to share the effects of our collaboration with Manchester Museum! The museum's …More
mission is to become the most inclusive, imaginative, and caring place you'll ever visit. As part of this project, we're working closely with Hannah and Wendy from Civic Engagement and Education, whose passion and dedication make this collaboration a true pleasure.
We are also closely collaborating with Pinc College, which works in unique ways with creative approaches to education. They have worked with groups such as the Greater Manchester Autism Consortium, which gives us a fantastic opportunity to create a space where every young visitor feels heard and valued. Through this collaboration, we aim to design a sensory room in one of the museum's spaces that will be accessible and supportive for children with different sensory needs. What's more, we hope to provide a space that supports and offers them comfort and the chance to engage in museum experiences fully.

We're looking forward to presenting the results of this exciting collaboration!

This is the room!
Introduction to our project:

Our project, SenseScape, focuses on children, especially those in their early school years. We are creating the interior of a room …More
in the basement of the Manchester Museum, which is right next to other educational spaces where children's workshops take place regularly. As the basement space is often used by schools, our room aims to not only serve as a place of engagement but also as a space where children can feel safe and supported. The project will bring together sustainability and culture, and the room will have a therapeutic, sensory focus, engaging children's senses of sight, touch, sound, and hearing.

What our Action Weeks will look like?

During the Action Weeks, you can expect an exciting workshop experience! As our project connects with the museum's collections, we can't wait to host a site visit where our collaborators will kindly show us the room and the exhibitions. We are also planning to collaborate with Pinc College, which will give us great insight into designing educational spaces focusing on different sensory needs. We're also thrilled to share that one of our future prospects might include an exhibition of our project outputs right in the room we are designing.
It's going to be an inspiring project with plenty of opportunities for creative exploration!

First Site Visit -12th Feb

What an exciting day! After spending four hours in the museum, we still can't say we've fully explored all the rooms and collections! (4.5 million objects!) …More
We were amazed by all the fascinating exhibitions within this building and their incredible educational value, which we would love to continue exploring in our project.

The site visit was our second meeting with Hannah and Wendy, following the December meeting that launched our MSA Live. During our discussions in the room, we learned that the planned room design should be pretty flexible, immersive, and functional.

After the meeting with our collaborators, we went for a coffee at the museum café, where we created our first drafts of the poster promoting the project. With excitement, we thought about the possibilities for the room, which we finally had the chance to see. We can't wait to return during the action weeks, this time with tape measures and even more ideas.

Take a look at the museum's collections here ->
https://museumcollections.manchester.ac.uk/

Second Site Visit -5th March

This was our second visit to the Manchester Museum to have a look at our sensory room again.

This visit focused on talking to Jenny, who specialises …More
in children's sensory needs. We talked about learning through play and learned about many sensory toys. It was an incredibly inspiring site visit!

Hello from the collaborators!

Hi everyone! We can't wait to welcome our new team members, and in the meantime, we'd love to introduce our wonderful collaborators, who have prepared …More
a few words about themselves.

Hannah:
''Hannah-Lee Chalk is Curator of Learning and has worked in the museum sector for 20 years in various roles including education, research, exhibition development, and as a curator. She originally studied Geology before undertaking a MA in Museum Studies and then a PhD in Social Anthropology. She has worked at Manchester Museum for many years, originally as a member of the Visitor Team and subsequently in a range of educational and project management roles before taking on her current role in 2016.

As Curator of Learning, Hannah oversees and supports the development and delivery of the learning programmes and is currently also involved in the development of the Wild exhibition. She is particularly interested in how the collections can be used to explore the intersection between social and ecological justice through programmes such as Carbon Ruins and the forthcoming Blazing World Escape Room.''

Wendy:
''Wendy Gallagher is Head of Civic Engagement and Education at Manchester Museum, part of the University of Manchester. She is an arts and heritage and education professional with over 25 years’ experience working across education, arts, health, culture, and heritage sectors. Wendy leads strategic initiatives in civic engagement, partnerships, and education. Coproduction, accessibility and inclusion is at the heart of our programming, exhibition making and redesign of our spaces. We want visitors to feel that they belong in Manchester Museum.''

Third Site Visit - 7th May

Today we had our final visit to the museum (as a group of Master's students), followed by a tea meeting with the collaborators to go over the final details …More
of the Action Weeks. Stay with us - exciting things ahead!