Manchester Spatial Agents (Projects)

Exploring different ways of being architects and different forms of architecture

Spatial Agents believe that architects and architecture can help design city spaces and services through our expertise in working across disciplines; our ability to understand the social and physical factors that make good places; our experience synthesizing and communicating complex information from multiple sources; and our propositional focus on delivering integrated and coordinated solutions and innovations.

We believe that the most positive future for architecture lies in developing both expanded disciplinary practices and expanded disciplinary services using architectural knowledge to add value and enable positive social processes.

Explore the content of architecture; different ways of researching and practicing

The studio provides alternative routes to research and practice. This is both an ethical and a pragmatic response to the current political and economic situation for architects and architecture and involves exciting and productive collaboration and engagement outside of the academy. These engagements are stimulated by the relationship to CSI and assisted by the staff team, but are designed so that they are driven by your particular interests. If you are interested in a particular subject or area of research, bring it into the studio. If you want to explore particular forms of practice, for example, through community engagement - we will support you to do this.

Explore the formal expression of architecture: different ways of designing

There are lots of ways of approaching your design - we refer to this as your design-research methodology because we (and most other ateliers) are assuming that the process of designing - drawing and model making - is a form of research. This means that the drawing or modelling actually produces knowledge rather than merely presents existing knowledge. We aim to explore with you the most productive and appropriate ways of designing for you and your particular interests and capabilities.