History Film Night: Architecture for the People?
| Dates: | 9 February 2026 |
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| Times: | 18:30 - 20:00 |
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| What is it: | Screening |
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| Organiser: | Manchester Urban Institute |
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| Who is it for: | University staff, Adults, Age Friendly, Alumni, Current University students, General public |
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Join us for a film screening and discussion exploring Manchester's urban history and development from the 1940s to today.
Organized in collaboration with The Modernist and the current exhibit up at the Central Public Library, Architecture for the people: the works of Manchester City Architect’s Department (1902-2003), this Manchester Urban Film Series screening and discussion will revisit Manchester's postwar period from today's contemporary vantage point.
We’ll be screening the 1947 documentary from the North West Film Archive collection, A City Speaks, which was a promotional film sponsored by the city council. As the BFI description summarizes: "Urban utopia beckons in this idealistic vision of postwar Manchester - fascinating to revisit as Northern Powerhouses and city devolution return to the agenda...Under the soaring, sweeping direction of Paul Rotha, it takes in themes of industry, energy, leisure and housing, present, past and future."
We'll use this as our starting point to reflect on Manchester's historical urban development and the role of government within that as well as the resonances, challenges or opportunities of the dramatically transformed landscape we face today. With a resurgence of interest in "new municipalism" and public ownership, "it is worth remembering," as the exhibit notes, "how much of the city’s operations were governed from the town hall. Manchester Corporation once controlled gas and electricity undertakings, tramways and trolleybuses, schools, police, fire and ambulance services, waste collection, parks and recreation, housing, libraries and more. The City Architect’s Department designed for all of these." What can we learn from these efforts today?
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Manchester Central Library
St Peter's Square
Manchester
