Living Memory Spine
This project reimagines the Mancunian Way as a Living Memory Typology, transforming a vehicle-dominated infrastructure into a civic spine for memory, making, and community exchange. Instead of treating the Mancunian Way as a physical barrier between Hulme, Ardwick, and the university district, the proposal opens it up as a permeable cultural landmark where old neighbourhoods and new communities can meet. The building combines a community museum, textile art-making spaces, exhibition galleries, outdoor market areas, play spaces, community gardens, and an observation deck. Circulation becomes part of the storytelling, guiding visitors through layered memory, created memory, archived memory, and delivered memory. Reused structures, donated objects, framed city views, and making activities allow Manchester’s past to be experienced as something active rather than nostalgic. By connecting movement, landscape, craft, and collective identity, the project bridges past and future, creating a more inclusive public place where memory is continuously shared, produced, and carried forward.
