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 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 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 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!) 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