Albert Square

Albert Square is defined by the sharp, Victorian Gothic spire of the Manchester Town Hall, which reaches toward the sky from the center of the space. The square was carved out of a dense maze of warehouses and slums in the eighteen sixties to create a grand stage for the city's municipal power. When the project began, the committee insisted on an open plaza that could host public gatherings, effectively clearing away the narrow, overcrowded streets that previously occupied this exact ground.