Final Major Project: The Concept

In any design project, the concept is the central idea around which the whole project revolves. The formulation of the concept should be at the start of every interior design process in order to give the project clear direction and meaning and provide rationale for design decisions. The concept may inform aspects such as layout, materiality, visual communication and even the chronology of the design process itself.

When choosing the concept for my Final Major Project, I began by taking location into consideration. I knew I wanted to base my project in Manchester to ensure the site was easily accessible to me. This led me to ask questions such as: ‘What is Manchester known for?’ and ‘What attraction is the city missing?’ Initially I considered basing my project on the Manchester canals, which played such a significant role in Manchester’s industrial history. However, after some reflection, I decided against this concept idea as I didn’t think I was sufficiently interested in the subject of canals for it to sufficiently sustain my interest throughout the entire project.

Instead, I decided to develop my concept around the more current theme of Manchester’s musical heritage. Manchester is very well known for its music, particularly that of its ‘heyday’ in the late 80s and early 90s, when bands such as The Smiths, Oasis and Joy Division created a vibrant music scene in the city. Despite this, Manchester lacks a venue dedicated to celebrating its musical heritage. This is surprising, as Liverpool has both the ‘British Music Experience’ and ‘The Beatles Story’, and London has several music museums. To me, this seems like a missed opportunity for Manchester, and after doing some research it quickly became self-evident that many other people felt the same way. For example, 98 percent of 295 responses in the Manchester Music Legacies Centre Debate (March 2017) felt that Manchester needed and should have a music museum. One Manchester resident said : ”Manchester has been needing a music museum for far too long now. If there were a music museum, it would bring much needed tourism and money…from far afield…We have proved with the Football Museum that having a museum dedicated to one type of entertainment…can be a success”.

Having decided that I was going to design a Manchester music museum, I began to develop this as a concept, linking my design ideas with musical interpretation, techniques and ideas. I realised that there is a clear connection between design and musical terminology and ideas. For example, you can find tempo, dynamics and rhythm in design as well as in music. This coming together of music and interior design provided the conceptual context and backdrop for my design decisions. Since both music and interior space can be imaginative, free-flowing and inspiring and I wanted my design to encompass all of these attributes.

Concept Illustration