 |
|
Manchester is an easy choice for me… as a
native, former resident and prior student of the City. The post-bombing award of the EDAW Masterplan acted as the catalyst that spurred the clearly visible urban transformation. Beyond the city’s commitment to restoring and preserving it’s medieval architecture, by way of a designated Millennium Quarter, the intent for a vivacious future is apparent by the reform of Exchange Square, Shambles Square, Cathedral Street, and St Ann’s Square. |
 |
| Manchester is home to some of the most enviable structures - One Angle Square, Hulme Arch Bridge, Trinity Bridge, the Urbis building, and the unmistakable Chips, New Islington ….and, there is so much more to look forward to!! |
 |
|
MSA encapsulates the best of Manchester – access to
resources in two of the nations top establishments, and a perceived recognition
that urban development and ecological design are movements that are affecting
over half the world’s population. The close correlation between the University,
the City and the industry, provide an enviable environment for architectural
research.
|
 |
|
Admiring Tampa’s unique and industrious, if relatively
short, history is solidified by my fascination for a single structure. Henry B.
Plant constructed the Tampa Bay Hotel between 1888 and 1891, utilizing John A.
Wood as his architect. Today, the hotel and its grounds make up the University
of Tampa, as well as the Henry B. Plant Museum. It is rightly a national
historic landmark. Wood’s combination of styles is eclectic. The grand minarets
topped with crescent shaped moons are immediately striking as something from
another world. My allure towards the Moorish Revival style is part of a larger
fascination with Romanticism and Epistemology.
|
 |
|
“God’s Architect”, or Antoni Gaudi, provides inspiration for
his modernist belief in creativity and nature, an unquestionable sense for art
and design, and a meticulous consideration of detail. All fueled, in my mind,
by a wholehearted devotion to utopian socialism. Antoni’s ironical sense of humour
and fearless belief allowed him freedom of thought, and ultimately the vision
to design.
|
 |
|
Gaudi’s masterpiece is, of course, the unfinished La Sagrada
Familia. Construction commenced in 1882. Gaudi devoted his final years to the
project, and yet was only able to witness less than a quarter of its
completion. He was, however, instrumental in the construction of a workshop where
he worked with models and photographs. Despite several delays due to funding
issues and the Spanish Civil War, completion is expected sometime around
2026/28. The church is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was consecrated by Pope
Benedict XVI, and is proclaimed globally. Art critic Rainer Zerbst summarised,
“It is impossible to find a church building anything like it in the entire
history of art.”
|
