Lorraine Kung, a Master’s in Architecture candidate, has earned an Expanding Horizons Fellowship to pursue research-related travel that will benefit the local communities connected to her project. Kung will travel to Manchester, UK, to study its architecture and urban infrastructure as historic artifacts that reflect the social fabric and cultural change it is due. Believing architects must learn from the past to inform future progress, she aims to uncover answers to an overarching question: when architects build, demolish, or preserve, do they consider the creation, erosion, or evolution of cultural and social networks?
Generously funded by Rice alumnus Dr. Walter Loewenstern, the Expanding Horizons Fellowship provides students the opportunity to expand their knowledge and experience through research-related travel. As part of the award, Kung will create a video or blog post about her experience.
Once England’s main textile manufacturing center, Manchester endured decades of deindustrialization and migration before redefining itself as an attractive location for corporate headquarters and a new, vibrant cultural scene. Kung will study specific postindustrial relics that have been redeveloped with an emphasis on learning about the evolution of the architect’s role in communities. She will analyze the Lowry, the Imperial War Museum North, the Hulme City Challenge, and the site of the Hacienda Club through three lenses, “as the backdrop deteriorates,” “as the old finds new life,” and “as the new is replaced by the old.” She hopes her research findings will inform her thesis.