Foundations

I was walking through the city centre earlier and something about these cobbles triggered a thought in my head. It seemed as though the industrial foundations that Manchester was built upon were clawing through the tarmac. Demanding we remember the history of this city we have since covered up.

Moments later a dead butterfly dropped down before me, landing crumpled on the pavement. It seemed strangely symbolic. As though it represented the death of creation and new life. I sometimes feel that way about Manchester. It seems like the modern buildings are just purpose built shells. They don't demand an emotional response from their inhabitants or the people on the outside. At the same time a lot of the historical architecture in the centre seems to go unused, overlooked and forgotten. A perfect example of this is the London Road Firestation. A beautiful building in a prime location. It's rotting away before us and it seems we're helpless to do anything to save it.

Here's the buildings rotting interior http://www.talkurbex.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=7486&start=10

A great example of how buildings such as this can be restored, renovated and brought into use in the modern day is The Albert Hall on Peter Street. The former Methodist meeting house was used as a bar/club known as Brannigans for a while but they only used the two lower floors of the building. Now renovated and reopened as a concert/music venue by th people behind Trof, it's amazing interiors can been seen by the public again. 

This kind of redevelopment was happening all over the city centre after the 1996 IRA bomb but seems to have taken second place to the construction of really bland glass tower blocks. Ironically the people behind the redevelopment of so many iconic buildings in Manchester are the same people creating these new constructions. Ian Simpson Architects who are behind most projects involving the redevelopment of areas in the city centre (All the current goings on in St Peters Square for example) are the same people behind Beetham Tower and No. 1 Deansgate. They have many similar buildings approved and/or in development across the city centre. Take a look at their projects gallery to see the incredible scale of their influence on the current look of our city centre architecture. 

http://www.iansimpsonarchitects.com/ISAL/projects/#all