Manchester Road is an avenue of learning for architecture students Manchester Road is an avenue of learning for architecture students The roughly 25-mile stretch of Manchester Road, from the Mississippi River to the outskirts of St. Louis County, recently provided School of Architecture graduate students with both a journey through architectural history and a challenging course in design solutions. They also explored theoretical design solutions to universal issues surrounding the contemporary American city and its environs, including urban blight, a lack of community feeling and, in suburban areas, rapid commercialization that often is devoid of any real design standards. It is a reflection of society and talks in very important ways about how society thinks of itself.
Architecture can make lives better.
As one travels westward along the road from downtown St. Louis, the initial brick warehouses, small businesses and housing dating back to the 19th century gradually give way to modern strip malls, and eventually, the road passes through undeveloped farmland. For example, they came to the understanding that the strip mall is not something to be despised but is something that we have to learn to live with. It is shaped by a desire for convenience, and we need to find new ways of engaging with it. In the studio, small groups of students examined a given section of the road to understand its current architectural context and then individually designed buildings appropriate to that section. It was entirely up to their discretion.