We Built This City: Manchester Society of Architects exhibition at MMU

This aptly named exhibition offers an insight into Manchester’s diverse and often controversial architectural heritage. Celebrating 150 years of Manchester Society of Architects, the exhibition showcases the architectural drawings of key and influential figures in the evolution of Manchester’s skyline and other sites around the world. Works on display include architectural drawings and pattern and source books. The exhibition includes drawings by Society founders Alfred Waterhouse and Thomas Worthington as well as designs by Edgar Wood, a key figure in the Arts and Crafts movement, and the hand behind a range of buildings around Greater Manchester including the Grade I listed First Church of Christ, Scientist in Victoria Park (pictured). Rare original copies of pattern and source books on display include W and G Audsley’s Polychromatic Decoration (1881), details of which enthusiasts will be able to spot in the design and ornamentation of Victorian buildings around Manchester as well as Owen Jones’ Plans, sections and details of the Alhambra (1842), a comprehensive study which fed into his designs of what’s now known as London’s V&A.

Tue 1 Dec 2015 – Fri 18 Mar 2016, Manchester Architects at 150, MMU Special Collections Exhibition Space, 3rd Floor, Sir Kenneth Green Library, MMU, All Saints, Oxford Road, Manchester, M15 6BH Free, Mon-Fri 10am-4pm, Thu 10am-7pm (term-time only), Sat noon-4pm (term-time only), closed Thu 24 Dec 2015 – Mon 4 Jan 2016, www.the-msa.co.uk

Image: Perspective of the First Church of Christ, Scientist, Victoria Park, Manchester Edgar Wood, 1903-04. Drawn by Edgar Wood, 1903-04, from the Edgar Wood Archive ©MMU Special Collections. Photograph by Ade Hunter.