Low-angle upward shot of two modern Manchester buildings: a cylindrical glass tower with stacked curved balconies on the right and a large flat glass curtain-wall office block behind it, under a heavy overcast sky.

Manchester Spinningfields — Cylindrical Tower and Glass Curtain Wall

5 October 2019 · Manchester

Two buildings, two completely different ideas about what a façade should do. The cylindrical tower on the right stacks curved balconies into a tight graphic spiral; behind it, the glass curtain wall spreads flat and gridded across a heavy overcast sky. Shot from street level looking up, the low angle compresses both structures against the clouds and lets the formal contrast between them do the work. Spinningfields keeps producing moments like this — geometry you didn't expect from a city block.

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