UMIST’s Modernist Moment: Building a new campus 1955-1975
The University of Manchester has now largely departed from its North Campus site, where it had a presence for over 125 years. Before the new University of Manchester was created in 2004, North Campus was the home of UMIST [University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology], one of the UK’s leading technological universities.
This exhibition looks at the history of UMIST at a key moment in its history – the major campus redevelopment of the 1950s and 1960s. During this period, it evolved from being primarily a municipal college of technology into a fully-fledged university, culminating in the formation of UMIST in 1965.
This new institution had a radically different ethos; it introduced innovative forms of teaching and research, and built new relationships with industry. The reconstruction of the campus, with new buildings built in a brutalist style, was the architectural expression of this dramatic transformation.
UMIST had a particularly complex history, with serial changes of name and ownership. Originally, the Manchester Mechanics Institution founded in 1824, it was taken over by Manchester Council in 1891. In 1902, it officially opened its new building at Portland St/Sackville St. It was known as Manchester Municipal School of technology from 1902 to 1918, when it was renamed the College of Technology. Municipal ownership ended in 1956, when it became the Manchester College of Science and Technology, with its own charter and funding from the University Grants Council (the public agency which funded UK universities at the time).
From 1905, the institution had enjoyed a special relationship with the University of Manchester. It acted as the Faculty of Technology for the University, providing university-level education in technological subjects (as well as vocational and technical education). This relationship continued after 1956, lasting into the 1990s. In 1965, the MCST became UMIST, and retained this name until 2004 when the new University of Manchester was established. From 2004, the former UMIST site was generally known as the North Campus site. The University withdrew from most of this site in 2022/2023.
In this exhibition, the institution will generally be referred to as UMIST, unless its chronologically specific title is more appropriate in the context.
