the factory: OMA-designed cultural venue in manchester moves ahead

in early 2017, plans were approved for ‘the factory’, a flagship cultural venue in manchester, england designed by OMA. now, with construction on the building well underway, new images illustrate the anticipated appearance of the completed project. as well as being the permanent home of the manchester international festival, the venue will commission and present a year-round program of interdisciplinary work by leading artists from across the globe.

image © OMA

OMA designed ‘the factory’ to be ultra-flexible, enabling ‘large-scale artistic work of invention and ambition’. ‘dance, theater, music, opera, visual arts, popular culture and innovative contemporary work incorporating the latest digital technologies will come together in ground-breaking combinations,’ explains the team behind the project. ‘here, the world’s best artists will let their imaginations run free as they experiment and embark on new collaborations, the fruits of which will be premiered in manchester before traveling the world.’

image © OMA

even though the building is not expected to open until 2021, over 1.5 million people have already visited ‘virtual factory’. launched at the start of july 2020, ‘your progress will be saved’ by the artist avatar laturbo avedon takes place in the global gaming platform fortnite creative. the project underlines the factory’s digital ambition and its flexibility — where the public and artists can come together, not only in and around the building, but also the expanding digital spaces beyond its physical structure.

image © OMA

meanwhile, manchester international festival has also announced plans for a new skills and training program, which is set to benefit up to 10,000 unemployed young people living in greater manchester over the next five years. meanwhile, in order to document the project’s realization, photographer pawel paniczko has been commissioned to capture the construction of the factory as it takes shape. see paniczko’s images below, and read designboom’s previous coverage of the project here.

image © OMA