Following the absence track in Manchester: Traces and leisure sites in Peter Street
the building was erected, a sign marks its latest newest feature, a nightclub. Unable to see the inside of it, one realises the strength that architecture14, able to keep the essence of something that does not exist anymore. We cannot see the inside, but even if it is empty, the facade still contains part of the life that had this building15 . This situation is similar to the one of Free Trade Hall, being the presence stronger, because of the traces found in what is now a hotel. The facade is practically the same, and inside we can find different artefacts that have been kept from the old building: some commemorative plaques near the main entrance from Peter Street; a series of coats of arms that now we can see above the reception desk; eight white stone sculptures that were in the Wildmill Street side of the old building, have been placed in a kind of skylight (they express activities associated with the hall); in a framed wall plaster autograph we can see the signatures of old performers; a large painting of the Peterloo Massacre commemorates de event in St. Peter’s Field in 1819... All of these elements as a whole, allow to bring to the present traces that belong to something that is part of the past and to give shape to what was a theatre. To make this happen, photography is a really helpful tool that opens perception to different perspectives. ‘While the photograph may not be able to tell us much more about the subject it makes visible without textual interpretation, it undeniable testifies–that has been’ (Long, J.J., Noble, A.,Welch, E., 2013:102). In comparison, we have the Tivoli Theatre, with an only archive photograph, and even the building was completely demolished, the actual roof structure has kind of similarity with the one from the past.
Apart from this, photography lets us to make a register of what we are seeing, that maybe will change or disappear with the passage of time. In the past, local authorities employed photographers to portray areas of the city that were to be demolished or rebuilt. Today, this barely occurs and many buildings disappear not being photographed, documented and As John Hendrix said, we can see more than what is architecture, seeing beyond what is present. The genius loci of places, being the buildings, containers of meaning, as it was mentioned before. 14
Taking the Heidegger’s idea, some spaces, even not carrying out their past functions, they still keep the structures and pillars where they performed them, making these places to take over meaning, despite some of them are uninhabited (like the Theatre Royal). 15
42