Hi, I’m Liesje, I’m a BA1 Architecture student here at MSA. I am thoroughly enjoying the experience so far, particularly when progressing my initial ideas into workable concepts.
I’m looking forward to developing a new skill set through the work I do during MSA live, and I think that Cyan+ is the perfect opportunity to achieve this.

As a group we went out on a site exploration, following a suggested route that we developed for our project. Starting by Platt Fields Pond, we walked through the park, chatting and making note of the surrounding environment. We then walked through Rusholme, passing multiple green spaces and noting their clear potential, while also acknowledging drawbacks and how to tackle them. Our walking route ended in Whitworth park, and we then continued to the MTC to consolidate our thoughts and findings. It was a lovely way to both generate ideas from the site, and interact with each other more after our first meeting. This was a very valuable day!

In our second session together, we discussed and worked through our ethics agreement, risk assessment, and budget for the project. We discussed possible both ethical and physical risks and how to tackle them as a whole group. We then split into groups of three with each group filling in and submitting each form. All of our documents were approved!

On Sunday 26th of March, we braved the rain, and visited the Feel the Rhythm Pocket Park to volunteer with helping them prepare the park for the spring and summer gardening season! We helped litter pick, clear fallen leaves and branches, and identify elements of the park, such as fallen planter bed walls, that may need attention after the winter. While doing all of this, we chatted with the other volunteers and gained an insight into how the pocket park is run and how it is used by the community. We also had the opportunity to ask them a few questions about our proposal and which elements they felt were best and which needed more work. This was an extremely valuable experience for all of us!

In the afternoon of Sunday 26th March, we continued out into the rainy Manchester weather, and met with Cyanlines for their guided walk along their Cyanline 3. Along the route we learnt a lot about the features of the route that helped them plot the line, also allowing us take inspiration for our Cyan+ line. As well as learning a lot about the history of Manchester. Talking to others on the tour allowed us to gain useful insight on what they value about Cyanline 3 giving us a lot to consider when furthering our own Cyan+ line proposal.
At the end of the walk we had the opportunity to tell the group about our project, sparking interesting conversations and ideas generation!
We were all relieved that by the end of the walk, the rain had cleared!

In the final week of regular MSA live meetings, we discussed what we’ve done so far, covering engagements, past sessions and more. We were joined by a MLA1 student, prompting reintroductions and a good summary of what our project involves. We then explored what there was still to do, planning our presentation, and intensive week, forming an action plan. We then divided into groups, each taking on a different task. It was a very productive session!

On the 2nd of March, we met, as a group, with one of our collaborators, Megan Brown from Manchester City Council. We presented our work so far, in order to showcase what our ideas are and how we plan to further them. We then discussed the requirements of the brief and CyanLines generally. It was useful to get the collaborator’s insight on the progress of our project so far and to hear Megan’s thoughts and opinions on the work. The meeting allowed us to focus on key aspects understand which of our ideas and concepts were worth spending the most time developing. It was great to speak to Megan and hear her outlook on the project, and it put us in a strong position to continue the project.

A few members of our group met and carried out a community engagement at a litter pick event in Platt Fields Park. We spoke to the members of public in attendance and asked them answer how they travelled to the park on that day, we used a pixel diagram and asked them to colour in a square in the appropriate area in order to easily visualise which the most popular mode of transport was. We also asked them to fill out our questionnaire, answering how accessible they feel that green and blue spaces are to them. We asked about how safe they felt in these areas and if they had any suggestions for improvements and development. It was a great insight into how the public views their green and blue spaces around our area of interest, and how we might use this data to plan the proposal of our CyanLine 3 extension into Platt Fields Park.

In the first session of the intensive week, we met as a whole group and worked collaboratively. We went through the work we had so far for the presentation and highlighted what still needed to be done. We noted which tasks took priority and where to dedicate the most time. Together we created an action plan for the rest of the week, dividing into groups to split the workload. We started sketching out initial ideas, frequently coming back together to discuss. This meant that we had multiple iterations of each idea, allowing us to create strong, final concepts derived from multiple different ideas. It was a great collaborative practice! Towards the end of the session Emily checked in with us and gave us some examples of the publication booklets, we looked through them together and made note of ideas that we could take inspiration from, for our own development. We ended the day with a plan of how to start the next day in the most productive way.

Intensive week session 2 saw us split off into groups, starting work on developing the sketches from the previous session. Each group had a different focus area for the publication. Developing our findings from the original meetings with the collaborators, site visits, community engagements, and idea-generating sketches, translating them into our final outputs and the way in which we are planning to present and communicate them. Some of us worked digitally, using 3D modelling software and others made physical models and drew by hand. We met half way through the session to consolidate our work and to check that time was being divided and managed efficiently, before splitting off again and continuing work. It was a very productive day for everyone in Cyan+.

In session 3 of the intensive week we continued individually working on content for the publication. Frequently checking in with each other and evaluating work, finding strengths and improvements to develop upon. Everyone worked hard on their own task, working within their own strengths, helping others out and striving to get work done. We met at the end of the day and went through the publication and presentation so far, discussing what still needed to be done and making a comprehensive to-do list. It was a good way to gauge where we were as a group and to be able to get collaborative input on what was left to do on the final day of the intensive week.