MSA LIVE 23 is this year’s annual programme of collaborative student-led live projects. Each year the Manchester School of Architecture runs MSA LIVE to unite BA1, BA2 and MLA1 students with MArch 1 and MA+AR postgraduates in mixed-year teams. The post-graduates engage in practice-based research to organise projects, working with collaborators from the North West and beyond to create social impact beyond architectural education.
This year approximately 650 students from 5 cohorts in MSA have worked on 41 projects with over 70 external collaborators and organisations. The projects culminate in two ‘action weeks’ which are documented on the MSA LIVE 23 blog live.msa.ac.uk/2023. Topics tackled are current and active for communities and issues are always wide ranging. This year projects included adaptive re-use, regeneration through arts, making safer streets, future-proofing community space, retrofit through natural materials, creating play and active external landscapes, heritage recovery, meanwhile uses, age-friendly housing, neighbourhood identities, landscape design for biodiversity, high street revival and what a community football stadium might look like!
We are always interested in finding new collaborators so if you would like to work with MSA students in your community on a project please get in touch msalive@mmu.ac.uk / e.crompton@mmu.ac.uk
External Collaborators
The Boiler House; Sow the City; Urban Imaginarium with Civic Square, Retrofit Balsall Heath, Anthropocene Architecture School and Birmingham City University; Carbon Coop; Withington Baths; Ecospheric Ltd.; Valley Heritage; For Tyldesley CIC and Sean Mojo Architecture; MAAP and Canal & River Trust; Clayton Hall Living History Museum with BB Heritage Studio and Manchester City Council; Tameside Council - Staleybridge HAZ; Platt Claremont Residents Association / Moss Side 1.5 with BUZZ; Chorlton Community Land Trust with Chorlton Vision; Greater Sport at Trafford Council with Open Data Manchester/ Publica/ Diva Creative/ Mic Media; St John's Centre, Old Trafford; Westcroft Community Centre with Southway Housing Trust, Global's Make Some Noise; Birch Community Association; Sharon Church and Sharon Youth Association; BCC-Salford ('Salford Naz'); Patricroft Community Group CIC; Highway Hope; Rural Art Hub CIC with Welshampton and Lyneal Parish Council, Shropshire Love Nature Festival and Willenhall Way Caravan and Camping Park; Burnside Centre; Miners Community Arts and Music Centre with Another Life Saved and TJ's Academy; Longsight Art Space with Friends of Crowcroft Park, Northmoor Community Hub, Bolly fit active group and Woman’s Voices; In-Situ and Hawes Farm; Trinity House Community Resource Centre with Young Manchester; Moston Brook, Oldham Council; Chorlton Traders Association; Marple Civic Society; 5plus architects and Lexington; Institute of Place Management; Emporium M33; Castlefield Forum; Arca Architects and PROJEKTSMCR; Florence Art Centre; Artist-led St Helens; Gorse Hill Studios Creative Community; Infinity Initiatives Football Club; 0161 community.
