Category Archives: MA Architecture + Urbanism

B.15 MODELMAKING AWARDS 2021

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We’re very pleased to announce our annual awards will go ahead and that we’ll be joined again by the fantastic international panel consisting of representatives from: SimpsonHaugh (Manchester), HENN (Berlin) and Bjarke Ingels Group (Copenhagen).

These awards are open to all students across all years of BA & MArch and we encourage anybody with modelmaking from studio/design work this academic year to submit.

Your work will be viewed by representatives from the collaborating practices and the resulting winners presented on June 18th at an all school event (link TBC).

What are we looking for? 

Any individual or group projects where modelmaking has been used to explore, develop or present your studio work, whatever it is and whatever it is made from, if it’s a model that helped you tell the story of your project it’s worthy of submission!

What to you need to do and when?

Submissions must follow the format as provided in the InDesign template that you can download below. You must stick to the formatting of this page to maintain consistency in the submissions document. That includes the font which is also included in the download link.

Have a look at last years submissions here as an example of how to lay out your work.

Key Criteria for your submission:

• Maximum 350 Words in the main body of text explaining:
a) Your project in brief, What was the purpose of your model(s)?
b) Your use of modelmaking at home/the workshop: scale, material and processes that you have used and why.

• Place 3 to 6 images of your modelmaking work (over the 2 pages) in its completed state these can include process images. Use captions to explain image content as shown in the example document.

• Models may have been completed from home, on campus, or a mix of both. Please clearly explain this whatever the case.

• Text should be in Effra Font (file included if you don’t have it on your computer) Size 10

• 2 x A4 pages only

• Saved as a 2 Page PDF

If your submission does not conform to these guidelines it will not be included in the final document for judging.

Please submit your work by downloading this pack

These must be submitted to scott.miller@manchester.ac.uk by 10.00am UK Time on Tuesday June 1st.

Good luck to everyone and well done getting through this year!

Scott and Saul @ B15

Guest Lecture: Ellie Sampson – Paper and Patience: Modelmaking at Home and in Practice

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In the very strange COVID world we find ourselves, the need to keep a balanced life is essential for wellbeing. One way that we of course fully support is to turn some of your design work away from the wormhole of screen based life to engage in some practical learning by making, quite literally with the human touch.

As a continuation of our B.15:50 events that should have taken place last year we’re pleased to welcome Ellie Sampson to MSA to discuss her work as an in independent paper modelmaker and her role as modelmaker/workshop manager at Haworth Tompkins Architects. Ellie’s work has become well known across social media with examples appearing across all platforms with their familiar, hand-crafted colourful styling.

The event was open to all and took place on February 1st at 17.15 via Zoom.

Thanks to all who were able to join us to see more of Ellie’s work and hear about the methodology for this eye catching modelling style followed by an open Q & A. The recorded event is now available below for those who missed it or couldn’t make the full session.

Video 1: Main Presentation by Ellie Sampson

Video 2: Q & A with Ellie Sampson

 

Welcome back to 2019/20 at B.15!

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Welcome back to a new academic year at B.15 new starters and returning students.

We’ve made a few changes over the summer to our user rules which we will be rolling out to all newly inducted students this year. For those of you returning you’ll get used to the changes as you get on with your projects over the coming months.

Upcoming Induction Closure Dates

BA Inductions – Tuesday 17th & Wednesday 18th September

MArch Inductions – Tuesday 24th & Wednesday 25th September

**** UPDATES****

****The workshop will be closed on Wednesday October 2nd.

**** MArch Catch-Up induction will take place on the morning of 7th October.

**** BA Q & A session will take place on the morning of 9th October.

**** BA Catch-Up Inductions will take place on the morning of 10th October.

**** MA Architecture and Urbanism Inductions will take place on the morning of 25th October

For the initial days a rep from 4D Modelshop will be set up in our ARCHITYPES exhibition (1st floor HBS building) to present their latest products and answer any questions you may have. There will also be a period of free delivery to B.15 if you wish to buy and tools or materials from them.

Induction catch-up dates will be posted when confirmed but please attend your allotted session to avoid as much disruption to the general workshop access over the next few weeks.

Whats new?

As many of you know we are usually running around trying to manage work space within the workshop at peak times. The rules for 20 students at once remains the same as before. We believe that the best way we can improve this experience for all users is for each of you to carefully consider how you are using modelmaking in your design work. Please take to time to read through our General Users Guide (updated for this year) to familiarise yourself with the general rules and regulations here to get the most out of your time.

With the new MMU School of Digital Arts under construction the most direct route between Chatham and us in Humanities is currently blocked. For those unfamiliar with the main MSA locations refer to this map to see the main alternative route

Standard Operating Procedures

Around the workshop you’ll now find Standard Operating Procedures for all machines which give an over view to what you should and shouldn’t do when using them. These guides are as a reminder only and do not substitute an individual induction which is mandatory for all students coming to work at the workshop. As always, please ask us before starting or if you are unsure about anything in the workshop. The SOP’s follow a standard format and look like this:

New Local Exhaust Ventilation (LEV) gauges 

When using any of the sanders or band saws you must now make sure you open the LEV dampers and that the dust extraction is within the approved range on the localised air flow gauge. Each gauge shows a green range which is the approved air flow range to ensure as much of the dust produced during machine use is carried away from you, the user, as possible. We’ll show you how these work in person but be aware that if you want to use these machines you will be expected to check this is functioning within range before commencing your job.

B.15 Going Green

 

As you may have read with increasingly regularity, there is a pressing need for all of us to change our consuming habits to ensure the best state of our future environment. Our existence as a modelmaking workshop makes this particularly challenging to combat due to the number of different materials and choices we make when using different products. We will be making a conscious effort to police misuse of materials and ensure as much of our waste is recycled as possible.

We have introduced a new supplier for our acrylic stocks which allow us to stock ‘GreenCast’ 100% recycled acrylic. As we run down our older stocks we will move towards only stocking this product from now onward. In addition to this we now have a recycling bin for acrylic scraps that are of no further use. This will be periodically sent off for recycling.

 

Many of you have become accustomed to using spirit wood dyes in the workshop which offer a range of colours that have proved very popular over the last few years. These dyes, being spirit based, aren’t particularly environmentally friendly so going forward we will be moving to stock palette water based dyes instead which offer the same range of colours without the environmental risks.

B.15:50

2020 marks 50 years since the workshop came into being and to mark this landmark anniversary we will be holding a number of events throughout the year which we hope to reveal in the near future.

We hope you’ll get involved to celebrate with us throughout the year!

See you soon,

Jim, Scott & Saul

MA Architecture + Urbanism ‘Undoing Urbanism’ Masterplan Model

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A recent modelmaking project from MSA’s MA Architecture + Urbanism course has gained media coverage in recent weeks. The Northern Quarter masterplan has taken centre stage in the window of Fred Aldous craft store. So what’s the story behind this huge eye catching display? Student Dorcas Agbana kindly explained the project:

We initially had a measured drawing of Northern Quarter but the scale on paper didn’t help us understand the context to its full extent. For part of our project a public consultation was scheduled at the Craft Centre and a model seemed like the best way to translate design to “reality” for the studio group and to the public.

We’ve learnt that physical objects are easier to grasp by laymen over technical architectural jargon and so this 3D manifestation seemed like the best way to explain our design process and showcase how our many ideas interlinked.

Concept art showing the model featured in Fred Aldous window display

 

Working in the studio space, the model was used to get a better understanding of scale (context and individual buildings), to figure out scope of the groups design interventions. It allowed us to plug in ideas to see how they worked, how we could link different concepts into one narrative and to holistically figure out new transport routes and better identify pockets of relief.

Initially, around 20-30 members broke the whole model into smaller zones to execute it. It took around a 5 day week to get the initial model done. And then around 10 – 15 students worked for another week to prepare it for public display in Fred Aldous shop front.

 

Since the display was completed the feedback has been positive. We have observed people pause and stare, we’ve gotten comments on how to better design it for the public to understand. People who have seen and read the articles and the brochure on the studio have since made a trip to the store to check out the model. The model will stay in the window until at least the end of March, but its next home has not been decided yet.

 

It was an interesting experience for everyone as the scale of the model made it probably the largest one that any one of us had worked on. In the studio it  helped all the students to better work together. The process was grueling and physically exhausting towards the end, but the end product makes it worth it!

It’s great to see the model being so publicly used to get people talking about the architecture and urban spaces in an area which has been subject to a number of controversial changes over the last year. Individual student proposals were published in the MEN giving the project further coverage in the region.Read the article here. 

Be sure to follow Architecture and Urbanism on their Instagram/Twitter to find out more about their ongoing projects Instagram: @maaumsa Twitter: @undoingurbanism

Thanks to Dorcas for explaining the project in more detail.

Students who worked on the model installation at Fred Aldous were: Dorcas Agbana, Priya Renganathan, Rayhane Saber, Marina Kuliasova, Bowen Zhang, Qu Zhang, Shuqian Zhou, Haochu Chen, Tian Gechuan, Dongli Huang, Tingting Miao, Yangyang Bao, Zhaozhao Zhang, Ramita Dewi Lubis, Anggita Krisnandini and Feng Daio