Manchest[AR]
Manchest[AR] is a speculative urban design thesis that reimagines East Manchester in 2050 as a prototype for cities shaped by Augmented Reality. In contrast to Virtual Reality, which isolates users from their surroundings, AR reinforces connection to place, people, and the physical world.
The project proposes AR as essential infrastructure rather than a digital interface. Through overlays embedded into transport, housing, and public space, citizens engage with their environment in real time. AR becomes part of the architecture itself, not an added layer, enhancing how people move, socialise, and understand space.
Using site specific analysis, computational design, and immersive simulation, Manchest[AR] explores how digital tools can deepen spatial experience rather than replace it. The masterplan envisions a city that is responsive, interactive, and grounded in local context, where information lives in space and changes how it is perceived and used.
The thesis proposes a new urban literacy, where everyday behaviours like seeing, navigating, and connecting are reshaped through embedded technology. Ultimately, it questions the architect’s evolving role in a future where the city becomes the screen, and reality is not replaced, but redefined.
