Magical architectural quality
Explore some bizarre contradictions involving faith and architecture.
I report on the controversial St Michael's or Bootle Street project, now under construction and announce a rs' collaboration. The tram will take us now into the heart of the city. This is Manchester Town Hall, currently undergoing a top-to-bottom refit lasting until 2024
It's a place where the term 'hallowed precincts' seems fitting. There is a dichotomy between the sacred and the profane. Manchester has plenty of both: It has its own Trinity statues, though not the one they talk about in church! It's said that both football and music are a religion here. As for the profane, you'll see and hear plenty of that on Peter Street on a Saturday night.
Taverns, alehouses, beer halls, pleasure palaces and other places of conspicuous alcohol consumption and indulgence, in other words, the nighttime economy, are an integral part of Manchester. Albert Square, Victorian on three sides but on its western side, we have these newer buildings. Photos from the 50s show there were beautiful Victorian façades here but for some reason they were demolished. That couldn't happen now - or could it? One of the buildings proudly displays its vintage: 1982. On the rear side, the eighties-style brickwork of this cafe is given a lift by a coat of white paint. And next to it, a few steps from Albert Square, is a very special place of worship, St Mary's Church, the Hidden Gem, built in 1794. A 60s office building was put up right in front of it. But its contemporary replacement has a cutout, allowing us to see the church properly for the first time.
He's a sketch I did during construction of the new building. There's still a shadow on the façade, so we'll come back later. We continue along Mulberry Street and on to John Dalton Street. A new building is under construction across the street. The sign says: A workspace for the future. Nine floors designed for happy humans. It replaces a 1960s office building, a trend we are seeing again and again in Manchester. Looking back is the 1960s building that once housed the Habitat furniture store, since remodelled and now housing Panacea Manchester, self-styled "urban playground and hub of Manchester nightlife" those words taken from the Panacea website.
Back at the Hidden Gem, the bell sounds for the Angelus. The shadow has moved but is still falling on part of the façade. As a photographer, I can say that shadows are very important and if possible to be avoided. Let's continue along the pedestrianised Brazennose Street into Lincoln Square, recently renovated and at its centre the statue of Abraham Lincoln. It's been rotated 90 degrees to the left so it's now facing west, so that's much better for photography. The Abraham Lincoln statue was a gift to the people of Manchester for their support during the Civil War in the 1860s. It's an expression of solidarity, peace and anti-racism. It's also a symbol of friendship between Manchester and the United States, now linked by regular transatlantic flights.
And I'd like to add a connection of my own. Close to this spot was the original Twisted Wheel club, where the raw sound of Northern Soul records brought a feel of 1960s Black America to Manchester. The square is intended to be a peace garden replacing the one that was in St Peters Square, though the peace theme doesn't seem to me to be much in evidence.
Everything looks better, the previous square looked run down.
The statue stands on a classy plinth. It once languished in Platt Fields Park until it was moved here some years ago. The Lincoln Manchester is a new office building replacing one from the 1960s, the one that blocked the view of the church. I think it's a superb building, with great use of stone.
All credit to 5plus Architects. Next to it, facing onto Deansgate is 125 Deansgate, currently there are shadows, so let's move into the sunlight. This is a replacement for an earlier building from the 80s. With its striking russet colour and massive proportions, this is not a building to keep a low profile. On the theme of sacred architecture, the John Rylands Library at first looks like a cathedral and was originally intended to house ecclesiastical books, though in the end, a wide-ranging collection was acquired. There's no more striking juxtaposition of contemporary and classic than here. Glass-fronted commercial and retail meets stone-fronted neo-gothic, a cathedral to books. It was opened in 1900.
Here is the façade in sunlight taken in 1998. The new buildings will cast shadows so I'm glad I got this shot when I did. We are looking back along Brazennose Street towards the town hall. This was planned as a ceremonial route in the 1945 plan for Manchester, which also suggested the demolition of the town hall. And just here is a statue dedicated to the Polish composer Chopin, it's by Polish artist Robert Sobocinski. Also depicted is one of his muses, Baroness Aurore Lucile Dupon. I don't think it does her justice. Further along Deansgate, a mixture of post-war and Victorian, including the handsome Eliot House, which was the home of the City Library, part of the Central Library, during its renovation from 2011-2014.
And I remember this office building 201 Deansgate won a Civic Society award in 1998. And at this point, I'm happy to announce that I am featured on the Magenta Otter Travels. channel, founded by an American Anglophile r, assisted by her husband, both from Texas. We walk up Jackson's Row, past the Old Nag's Head hotel and the Synagogue, I'm using an archive photo here, as there were security staff outside and I didn't want to capture them on article or in the picture. This is the former Bootle Street Police station site, which is about to be transformed. While they're working on the foundations we have clear views of the surrounding buildings. This is how the Jackson's Row entrance to the police station looked before demolition. Looking down Jackson's Row we can see the narrow windows on the side of the synagogue.
Now we've reached Southmill Street and we can see the magnificent ornamental façade of the old police station, built in the 1930s. It's not just a striking piece of inter-war architecture, it's a tribute to the work of the Manchester Police and the service they gave during World War 2 and in the post-war years. Under the original plans for this site, drawn up by footballers Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville, in association with Make Architects, the police station façade was to have been demolished. Two black towers of uneven height would have appeared. People called them 'tombstones' The plans were widely criticised.
After a high-profile campaign, the footballers withdrew the plans.
Make architects stood aside.
Architects Hodder and Partners came up with a new design, retaining the police station façade.
This is how the Bootle Street entrance to the police station looked and to its left, the Abercromby Pub, which they also originally wanted to demolish, but the pub will be incorporated into the new development. The synagogue, with the full agreement of its community, will be demolished and replaced with a new one within the complex, at the expense of the developers. The site is just a stone's throw from Albert Square. The town hall was once the tallest building in Manchester, not any more. So it won't be long before, we will witness, arising in front of us, a 134-metre tower with offices, apartments and a hotel. The architects have located the tower at the far end of the site to minimise its impact, but will that be enough? Looking at screengrabs from the Hodder + Partners website, it's clear they have tried hard to create more than just a standard concrete tower and it's very good they've retained a remnant of the old building, as they often do in Ireland.
It will however be very noticeable from Albert Square casting a shadow in the afternoon, longer in the winter. Will it reach the town hall façade? Here are more images from the St Michael's Partnership website.
That's the name of the development. There were objections to the rooftop garden and bar but in the end, that was approved by the council, allowing construction to proceed - a few years later than planned. Will it be worth the wait? It looks like a very dense and massive development, bringing a complete change of use to this formerly quiet zone by the town hall. Keeping a low profile is definitely not what this development is about. It's all about commerce, prestige, the pursuit of worldly things, the nighttime economy. So why did they name it after St Michael, venerated in Christianity, Judaism and Islam, Chief of the angels and archangels, who did battle with Satan? Information from Wikipedia. Anyone coming here expecting a church is in for a shock, though they will be surprised to find a pristine new synagogue in the base of the building. We'll just have to wait and see how it turns out.
Keep watching AidanEyewitness. And so we return to the Hidden Gem and oh dear, the shadow is on the left! Neve mind. It's incredible to think this church was built 218 years ago. At that time, restrictions on Roman. Catholics were being lifted, though churches - and churchgoers - still needed to keep a low profile. I'm struck by the similarity to churches in Germany. This one is the Roman Catholic. Liebfrauenkirche - Our Lady's church in Leipzig.
And so whatever our level of faith or lack of it, places of worship offer us a respite, making the city outside seem to disappear, a quiet zone, a place to reflect. They often have a magical architectural quality and contain precious artefacts. So when it comes to the power of architecture, ancient or modern, sacred or secular, to shape our world, for better or for worse I'm a believer! I hope you found this article interesting, maybe even inspiring.