An exhibition of work from emerging disruptive architectural studios in the Northwest.
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2025
Manchester
Complete
Turner.Works & Studio MUTT
Studio DBD
SEESAW
4-weeks
This exhibition celebrates the work and ethos of the Northwest Small Practice Forum (NSPF) — a collective of like-minded architectural studios committed to reshaping perceptions of small practice in the region. Championing collaboration over competition, NSPF aims to demonstrate that agility, creativity, and community impact often flourish within smaller studios. The exhibition showcases the breadth of their collective talent, highlighting the positive influence of small practices on the built environment and professional culture.
Common Practice co-curated and led the project, working closely with Studio MUTT, Turner Works, and Artform, as well as other members of the NSPF, to design, coordinate, and deliver the four-week exhibition. Acting as the central coordinator, we managed volunteers, events, organised talks, liaised with the venue, and oversaw installation and deinstallation. Studio MUTT and Turner Works developed the exhibition design, which consists of stacked cardboard boxes tied with blue straps and sandwiched between varnished sheets of MDF. This design is intended to be scalable, adaptable, recyclable, flexible, transportable, demountable, reusable and ultimately recyclable - so the unit of a simple cardboard box was an ingenious choice - the challenge was elevating such a prosaic material into something impactful and of a quality which the NSPF could be ultimately proud of. This was undoubtedly achieved.
Press
Architects Journal
Teaser for social media, by Studio DBD.
Photographs by Nicola Arber Photography.