Making Matters: An exhibition by AiM & Manchester Society of Architects is now open at Material Source Studio Manchester.

Making Matters is a new exhibition from the Architects Index of Modelmaking presented in collaboration with Manchester Society of Architects showcasing how architects communicate ideas through physical models.

Now open at our Manchester Studio (2 March-2 April 2026), it brings together practitioners’ work at different scales to highlight the role of modelmaking in developing and testing architectural projects with insights from the architects and modelmakers themselves.

Exhibitors: Who's involved -

• Allies and Morrison
• Architect Benjamin Machin
• Artform
• Bennetts Associates
• Chris Dyson Architects
• Claudio Molina Camacho - Architecture Atelier
• Common Practice
• EPR Architects
• Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios
• Grimshaw
• HENN
• Jateen Lad Architects
• Jestico + Whiles
• Make Architects
• Materia - Gustavo Carmona
• Mistry Swire Architects
• Morris + Company
• Ollier Smurthwaite Architects
• OMI Architects
• Other People's Dreams
• PARK
• Patriarche
• Prostorne Taktike
• Purcell
• SimpsonHaugh Architects
• SkB Architects
• St. Sa. / Zahra Safaverdi
• Stanton Williams
• Studio Naama
• Studio Power
• Sunday Studio
• WW+P

Public programme: What's On -

• 2 March - Exhibition opens to the public - Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm

• 3 - 4 March - Exhibition Tours - Contact Material Source Studio Manchester team to book, or pop into the Studio

• 5 March - Official Exhibition Launch - Invite only event

• 8 - 29 March - 3-Part Clay Workshop - Taught by ceramic artists Stephen Graham and Nastassia Blahadava, this three-part course introduces the basics of slab building. Across two extended making sessions and a final glazing session, you’ll create your own simple form – or collection of forms – using 4mm clay slabs with mitred joints. Sessions on the 8th, 22nd and 29th March. Get your ticket.

• 12 March - Practice Lecture: Design Beyond the Drawing. Stephen Setford (Associate & Workshop Manager) and Tom Fotheringham (Associate & Project Architect on Rhodes House, Oxford) will reflect on the collaborative journey of creating and utilising models in design, showcasing the powerful tools and materials that influence and shape the design. Get your ticket.

• 19 March - MAKING MATTERS – CASTING WORKSHOP. Join us for an evening of hands-on making with Maz Weineck at Material Source Studio. Whether you’re an experienced maker or simply keen to try something new, this is a chance to learn by doing – and to create something tangible to take away. Get your ticket.

• 26 March - Festival Day: In the Making - Chaired by European Cultural Centre (ECC). Structured around three high-energy conversations – Making as Process, Making as Communication, and Making as Consequence – the day explores how models don’t just represent architecture, but actively shape how it is imagined, negotiated, and built. Get your ticket.

• 27 March - Career Day: The Big Make. A private event for secondary school and sixth form students.

• 1 April - Closing Party - Information coming soon.

Material Source Studio Partner Sixteen3 is product partner for this exhibition, supplying its Calvert shelving and display systems to provide beautiful and functional surroundings for the pieces on display.

For more information visit the AiM website here, and the Manchester Society of Architects website here. And see our What's On page for full event details and specific event booking.