Urbis

{{Infobox building

| name = Urbis

| native_name = National Football Museum

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| status = Home of National Football Museum (since 2012)

| image = Urbis Olympics.jpg

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| caption = Urbis from Corporation Street

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| building_type = Exhibition and Museum Centre

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| structural_system = Concrete and glass

| cost = £30 million

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| location = Cathedral Gardens,
Manchester city centre,
Manchester

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| opened_date = 2002

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| floor_count = 6

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| architect = Ian Simpson

| architecture_firm = SimpsonHaugh and Partners

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Urbis is a building in Manchester, England, designed by Ian Simpson, which opened in 2002 as part of the redevelopment of Exchange Square. Originally a Museum of the City, a switch was made in 2005-06 to presenting exhibitions on popular culture alongside talks, gigs and special events. Urbis closed in 2010, reopening in 2012 as the National Football Museum.

Architecture and design

File:The Urbis Building - geograph.org.uk - 332225.jpg.]]

File:The top of Urbis.jpg.]]

Urbis is a building in Cathedral Gardens, designed by Simpson Haugh and Partners with consulting engineers Martin Stockley Associates. The building has six storeys and a distinctive sloping form. Visitors were intended to travel to the top floor, accessed by a lift, to admire the cityscape, then progress down a series of cascading mezzanine floors past exhibits about cities.{{Cite news |title=Urbis Manchester |url=http://www.caa.uidaho.edu/arch504ukgreenarch/2009Archs-CaseStudies/urbis.pdf |access-date=5 June 2012}} The fully glazed facades consist of approximately 2,200 glass panes arranged in horizontal strips.{{Cite web |title=Street wise |author=Glancey Jonathan |author-link=Jonathan Glancey |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2002/jul/01/artsfeatures.museums |newspaper=The Guardian |date=1 July 2002 |access-date=27 October 2012}} The building has an adiabatic cooling system for use in summer and heat recovery system for use in winter increasing its energy efficiency.{{Cite news |title=Urbis Manchester |url=http://menerga.co.uk/casestudies/Urbis.htm |work=Menerga Cooling |access-date=5 June 2012}}

History

Urbis, a museum and exhibition centre intended to showcase inner-city life, opened on 27 June 2002 as a symbol of regeneration after the IRA's 1996 Manchester bombing.{{Cite news |title=From bomb site to style capital |last=Houston |first=Julia |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/5036258.stm |work=BBC |date=15 June 2006}} The project attracted £30 million funding from the Millennium Commission and £1 million from Manchester City Council towards the running costs.{{Cite news |title=Museum of the modern city opens |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2070340.stm |work=BBC |date=27 June 2002}} The exhibition space covered five floors and hosted temporary exhibitions running for between three and five months.

The museum's first director, Elizabeth Usher, resigned in March 2003 amid criticism that Urbis was not appealing and the exhibits were too abstract.{{Cite news |title=Boss quits ailing Urbis |url=http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/52/52975_boss_quits_ailing_urbis.html |work=Manchester Evening News |date=3 March 2003}} First-year visitor figures fell 58,000 short of its 200,000 target and the Millennium Commission, who provided £20m of funds, threatened to reclaim its money if Manchester City Council had to close it.{{Cite news |title=Urbis's £20m catch |last=Ottewell |first=David |url=http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/63/63470_urbiss_20m_catch.html |newspaper=Manchester Evening News |date=23 July 2003}}

Visitors paying a £5 admission fee were unimpressed and few visitors returned, which the management saw as a key problem. By October 2003, visitor numbers were below 200 a day{{Cite news |title=New calls to cut Urbis handouts |url=http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/69/69532_new_calls_to_cut_urbis_handouts.html |last=Ottewell |first=David |newspaper=Manchester Evening News |date=8 October 2003}} and there was criticism over a £2m annual subsidy from Manchester City Council,{{Cite news |title=New attractions for a new millennium... but can they survive now the honeymoon's over? |last=Ward |first=David |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2003/oct/27/arts.artsnews?INTCMP=SRCH |newspaper=The Guardian |date=27 October 2003}} The Guardian architecture critic Deyan Sudjic remarked that the exhibits were a "spectacular missed opportunity",{{Cite web |title=Where William Morris meets Mills & Boon... and loses |last=Sudjic |first=Dejan |url=https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2002/aug/04/2 |newspaper=The Guardian |date=4 August 2002 |access-date=27 October 2012}} although Urbis did garner some praise in other quarters.{{Cite news |title=Why I love... Urbis, the museum of urban life |last=Redding |first=Scott |url=https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2003/oct/20/features11.g23?INTCMP=SRCH |newspaper=The Guardian |date=20 October 2003}}

In an attempt to boost visitor figures, the admission fee was scrapped in December 2003.{{Cite news |title=Museum drops entry fee |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/3351441.stm |work=BBC |date=27 December 2003}} The plan worked: visitor figures trebled by January 2004{{Cite news |title=Visitors flock to fee-free Urbis |url=http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/77/77766_visitors_flock_to_feefree_urbis_.html |newspaper=Manchester Evening News |date=9 January 2004}} steadily increasing to fivefold by April 2004.{{Cite news |title=Urbis visitors increase by 550% |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/3619813.stm |work=BBC |date=12 April 2004}}

Urbis' chief executive admitted in 2010 that the 'Museum of the City', which ran from 2002 to 2004, "just didn't work".{{Cite news |title=Urbis boss 'bitter sweet' over its future in Manchester |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/manchester/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_8534000/8534279.stm |work=BBC |date=24 February 2010}} In 2004, a radical decision was taken to rebrand Urbis as an exhibition centre for British popular culture with emphasis on Manchester and no longer called a museum{{Cite news |title=Urbis sent off: Manchester cultural hub to become football museum |quote="We banned the word museum." |last=Brown |first=Mark |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2010/jan/24/urbis-manchester-cultural-football-museum?INTCMP=SRCH |newspaper=The Guardian |date=24 January 2010}} in an attempt to give it a clear identity. With no admission fee, Urbis shook off its white elephant title{{Cite news |title=The white elephant that learned to fly |last=Ward |first=David |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/may/11/education.regeneration?INTCMP=SRCH |newspaper=The Guardian |date=11 May 2004}} as visitor numbers rose and over a quarter of visitors came from outside the city.

=National Football Museum=

Urbis closed in February 2010 for conversion to the National Football Museum.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8540418.stm Manchester's Urbis closes to become National Football Museum] BBC 27 February 2010. Retrieved on 23 April 2010. Plans to relocate the National Football Museum from Preston in Lancashire had emerged in 2009.{{cite news |url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1182980_national_football_museum_to_move_to_urbis|title=National Football Museum to move to Urbis |newspaper=Manchester Evening News|year=2009}} Retrieved on 21 December 2009. The museum trustees cited long-term funding worries as the reason for relocating to Manchester{{Cite news |title=Football museum 'needs more cash' |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lancashire/6289689.stm |work=BBC |date=23 January 2007}}{{failed verification|date=November 2011}} where 400,000 visitors a year – four times the previous figure – are expected.

Preston City Council, unhappy at the proposals,{{Cite news |title=Anger over football museum move |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lancashire/8367849.stm |work=BBC |date=19 November 2009}} attempted to thwart the move. The University of Central Lancashire, Lancashire County Council and Preston City Council offered the museum £400,000 per year{{Cite news |title=Rival bid on football museum move |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lancashire/8308733.stm |work=BBC |date=15 October 2009}} but were outbid by Manchester City Council's £2 million. Admission is free{{Cite news |title=No late kick-off: Football museum will overcome funding cuts to open on time in Urbis |url=http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1404481_no_late_kickoff_football_museum_will_overcome_funding_cuts_to_open_on_time_in_urbis |newspaper=Manchester Evening News |date=6 January 2011}} and a broad advertising campaign will aim to attract visitors to Urbis.{{Cite news |title=Brazen PR plays ball with National Football Museum |url=http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/business/media/s/1425485_brazen-pr-plays-ball-with-national-football-museum |newspaper=Manchester Evening News |date=4 July 2011}} In the first 9 months of opening, the museum had already attracted 350,000 visitors.{{Cite news |title=Back of the net: National Football Museum smashes targets for visitors |url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/national-football-museum-urbis-manchester-3158075 |work=Manchester Evening News |date=26 April 2013 |access-date=7 May 2013}}

History of exhibitions and events

File:D&AD launch.jpg

;2009

State of Art: New York from April to September showcased contemporary art in New York.{{citation |title=State of the Art: New York |url=http://urbisarchive.org/exhibitions/state-of-the-art-new-york/ |work=Urbis |access-date=15 July 2011}}

Videogame Nation charted the rise of video games over four decades, how it became a multibillion-pound industry and the Wii and Nintendo DS.{{citation |title=Videogame Nation |url=http://urbisarchive.org/exhibitions/videogame-nation/ |work=Urbis |access-date=15 July 2011}}

The Best of Manchester Awards 2009 celebrated Mancunian culture in 2009.{{citation |title=Best of Manchester Awards 2009 |url=http://urbisarchive.org/exhibitions/best-of-manchester-awards-09/ |work=Urbis |access-date=15 July 2011}}

Home Grown: The Story of UK Hip Hop, from October 2009 to February 2010, documented the hip-hop music scene.{{citation |title=Home Grown: The Story of UK Hip Hop |url=http://urbisarchive.org/exhibitions/home-grown-the-story-of-uk-hip-hop/ |work=Urbis |access-date=15 July 2011}}

Manchester, Television & the City: Ghosts of Winter Hill explored the city's television industry, Granada Television, BBC North and programmes created in Manchester.{{citation |title=Manchester, Television & the City: Ghosts of Winter Hill |url=http://urbisarchive.org/exhibitions/manchester-television-the-city-ghosts-of-winter-hill/ |work=Urbis |access-date=15 July 2011}}{{Cite news |title=Manchester on TV: Ghosts of Winter Hill |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/manchester/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_8332000/8332589.stm |work=BBC |date=30 October 2009 |access-date=15 July 2011}} The exhibition coincided with the digital switchover in the region and television's move to MediaCityUK.

;2008

The Manchester Zinefest was about independent publishing and zines.{{Cite web |title=Going underground at Manchester Zinefest |last=Vaughan |first=Megan |url=http://www.metro.co.uk/metrolife/284307-going-underground-at-manchester-zinefest |newspaper=Metro |date=28 August 2008 |access-date=27 October 2012}}

How Manga Took Over The World explored how Manga, influenced 21st-century art culture.{{citation |title=How Manga Took Over the World |url=http://urbisarchive.org/exhibitions/how-manga-took-over-the-world/ |work=Urbis Archive |access-date=27 October 2012}} Reality Hack: Hidden Manchester, atmospheric photographs of Manchester's abandoned recesses by Andrew Brooks and curated by Andy Brydon.{{cite web |title=Hacking into Manchester |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/content/articles/2008/11/20/021208_reality_hack_feature.shtml |work=BBC Manchester |date=20 November 2008 |access-date=27 October 2012}}{{Cite web |title=Behind reality |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/content/image_galleries/021208_hidden_manchester_gallery.shtml |work=BBC Manchester |date=November 2008 |access-date=27 October 2012}}

Urban Gardening featured gardening in urban environments.{{citation |title=Urban Gardening |url=http://urbisarchive.org/exhibitions/urban-gardening/ |work=Urbis Archive |access-date=27 October 2012}}

Emory Douglas retrospective exhibited the work an artist involved with the Black Panther organisation.{{Cite web |title=Black Panther: Emory Douglas and the art of revolution |url=http://urbisarchive.org/exhibitions/black-panther-emory-douglas-and-the-art-of-revolution/ |work=Urbis Archive |access-date=27 October 2012}}

;2007

The Haçienda 25 The Exhibition: Fac 491
D&AD Exhibition: The Best Design and Advertising in the World
Catapult 07
Arrivals & Departures: New Art Perspectives of Hong Kong
PLAY: Experience the Adventure of Our Cities
City 'til I Die?{{Cite news |title=city til i die |url=http://www.urbis.org.uk/page.asp?id=3088 |work=Urbis |access-date=14 July 2011}}{{Cite news |title=Urbis pays homage to City fans |url=http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/entertainment/arts/s/1004/1004765_urbis_pays_homage_to_city_fans.html |newspaper=Manchester Evening News |date=17 April 2007}}
Best of Manchester
Bog Standard Gallery

;2006

File:Bas6 launch.jpg

Under Surveillance
British Art Show 6
Little Black Dress
D&AD: The Best Advertising Design in the World
Manchester 0161: This is what we're made of
The China Show
Make Me Shine

;2005

File:Supercity exhibition 1.jpg

Rock 'n' Roll Icons: the photography of Mick Rock
Punk: Sex, Seditionaries and the Sex Pistols
SuperCity{{Cite news |title=Shaping the future |last=Worsley |first=Giles |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/3635280/Shaping-the-future.html |newspaper=Daily Telegraph |date=19 January 2005}}

;2004