Urban Obscura
This project follows an architectural ethos that embraces darkness, ambiguity, and sensory experiences to challenge the dominance of sight in urban environments. Urban Obscura seeks to ignite a cultural revolution by reclaiming the unseen, the unheard, and the unfelt—spaces that prioritize touch, sound, temperature, scent, and atmosphere over visual spectacle.
Rooted in resistance to hyper-illumination and surveillance culture, Urban Obscura reframes the city as a layered, enigmatic terrain where meaning is felt rather than seen. It calls for a reconnection with nocturnal rhythms, forgotten rituals, and the latent potential of shadowed spaces to provoke reflection, intimacy, and subversion.
Situated within the context of the ongoing development of Mayfield, Manchester, the project inhabits a derelict viaduct archway—a space often overlooked and forgotten. By reviving this space, its unique characteristics are expressed to the public—its darkness, obscurity, and acoustic properties are wielded to generate an atmosphere of curiosity, reverence, and appreciation for urban darkness.
The project achieves this through every design aspect, down to the rough-hewn stone walls that give users a tactile experience akin to cave diving. By exposing the arch in the design, the space celebrates the industrial history it is encapsulated by, whilst proposing a new use for these often derelict spaces.
Key design drivers:
- Tectonic expression of structure
- Adaptable and flexible spaces
- Thoughtful illumination using sunlight funnels
- Non-visual Experience focussed design
- Celebrating the on site river
