To Act in the Arena of Masculinity Part 2 Project 2020 Tobias Corry Manchester School of Architecture Manchester | UK As a man living in the UK, I have been governed by a strict set of rules my whole life, determined by an unspecified force dictating what I wear, how I move my body and which spaces I feel most comfortable in. This is the nature of masculinity, a phenomenon that grants men power and influence in exchange for repression. ‘To Act in the Arena of Masculinity’ aims to represent these oppressions and uncover the built environment's active role in reinforcing performativity in certain territories of the city, adopting a design methodology that draws from research on the mobilisation of citizens through active participation and theatrical intervention. This takes the form of a surrealist, walking simulator game, which is influenced by and furthers Boal’s principles of Forum Theatre, allowing users to observe and manipulate a series of virtual stages, conveying personal experiences of Spinningfields, Manchester’s financial district. The financial district typology, with its associated symbols, monuments and expressions, both produces and reflects the masculine body in a contemporary arena of masculine performativity. This is a repercussion of the modern design process, built on the categorisation of functional space in the form of predefined typologies and an incessant desire for efficiency. Tutor(s)