Dusk view of the Ashton Canal in Manchester, where a timber umbrella-like frame hangs from an old black canal crane, with dozens of glowing paper lantern boxes painted with colourful drawings suspended beneath it, and people photographing, sitting and cycling along the cobbled towpath beside brick buildings

Workshop

Shigure | 時雨

MSA – Traditions, Elements, Architecture

Year: Summer 2026
Classification: Workshop
Status: Summer School Workshop 2026
Location: Manchester, UK
Team: Ayaka Yamane
Mio Ozawa
Toshiki Sakane
Nayuki Hiramatsu
So Fukushima
Zoya Khan
Gökalp Kalfa
Bethan Anderson
Consultants: Hiroshima Institute of Technology, JapanSo Sugita
Kyushu University, JapanTomo InoueMasaaki Iwamoto
Kindai University, JapanShinnosuke Fujita
Kyoto University, JapanYosuke Komiyama
Manchester School of Architecture, UKMatt Ault (opens in a new tab)
Loughborough University, UKMatyas Gutai
Organizer: Manchester School of Architecture (opens in a new tab)

Shigure is a transformable pavilion designed for the Ashton Canal in Manchester, reinterpreting the site's industrial infrastructure through contemporary public use. Once used to move goods and materials through the city, the canal and its towpaths now support everyday activities such as walking, running, resting and observing the waterside landscape. The project responds to this transition by reactivating the existing canal crane as part of the pavilion's assembly, movement and relocation.

Inspired by the folding logic of the traditional Japanese wagasa umbrella, the pavilion opens and collapses around a central connection, allowing it to be compacted and transported along Manchester's canal network. Beneath this structure, suspended paper boxes draw on the character of Japanese lanterns, creating a soft, illuminated environment after dark.

The pavilion is designed to change through participation. Visitors can draw and paint directly onto the paper elements, gradually transforming the initially translucent lanterns into a colourful collective installation. In this way, Shigure becomes both a place to pause along the canal and an evolving record of the people who use it.

From Site to Pavilion

01 / 07

Sheet 01, Manchester: Industrial City, a circular map of central Manchester with the River Irwell, canals, Ancoats and landmarks, beside text on how industry and canals shaped the city. — 0101 Manchester: Industrial City.

Sheet 02, The Canal as Urban Infrastructure, a closer circular map of the Ashton Canal with towpaths and green strips, beside text on the canal as a linear public landscape. — 0202 The Canal as Urban Infrastructure.

Sheet 03, Pause Along the Canal: The History, a circular map of the Ashton Canal junction and a photograph of a laden barge, beside text on the canal opened between 1796 and 1800 to carry coal. — 0303 Pause Along the Canal: The History.

Sheet 04, Industrial Memory: The Crane, an axonometric of the canal basin with its crane and a historic photograph of a steam crane, beside text on the boat, crane, wharf, warehouse and factory chain. — 0404 Industrial Memory: The Crane.

Sheet 05, Form Inspiration: Japanese Umbrella and Lanterns, photographs of paper lanterns, a blue wagasa umbrella and washi paper-making, with sketches of a lantern and an umbrella folding open. — 0505 Form Inspiration: Japanese Umbrella and Lanterns.

Hand-painted washi paper boxes hanging on cords in front of the canal basin and brick buildings, beside four sketches of visitors painting, rotating, resting under and photographing the lanterns. — 06Interacting through painting, rotating, resting and capturing.

Exploded axonometric of the pavilion from the rHDPE connection nodes and timber beams to the washi paper cover, flax cables, paper boxes and local stones, with the folding sequence and an aerial view of the canopy hanging from the crane. — 07The structure, from rHDPE nodes and timber beams to washi paper and local stones, and how it folds.

Folding Model

01 / 03

01The model folding open and closed around its central connection.

A white 3D-printed model of the pavilion's folding frame, its beams gathered upward around a black central node, standing on a studio desk with books, pencils and sketches. — 02The model folded around its central node.