大象传媒

Professor Martin Goodman explores the new, iconic cultural buildings that have emerged in the North of England over the last decade and asks if they represent a 'New North'.

In the second part of his journey, he visits the Hepworth Gallery in Wakefield and talks to its architect, Sir David Chipperfield about the design. In Manchester he gets a panoramic view of the city from the 47th floor penthouse of the architect Ian Simpson, who designed the tower.

He talks to Maria Balshaw, the director of the Manchester Art Gallery to find out about the historic relevance of that gallery today, and meets the director of a new cultural building, where work has just begun.

Martin also hears from Professor Peter Barrett about the regeneration of Salford Quays, home of the Imperial War Museum and the recently opened MediacityUK. Professor Barrett has studied the economics of Lottery funded arts and cultural buildings.

In Cheshire, at the Jodrell Bank telescope, Martin explores a longer-term view of the North's history with the writer Alan Garner.

In Liverpool, he visits the new Museum of Liverpool on the banks for the Mersey, meeting its director Janet Dugdale to find out about its perspective on Liverpool's history, and also talks about that city's culture and place in the world with the writer Phil Redmond. Finally Martin hears from Liverpool's Mayor about the challenges of economic austerity and public funding for the arts, and his hopes of attracting investment from China into a huge redevelopment of the city's derelict Docks.

Producer: Philip Reevell
A City Broadcasting production for 大象传媒 Radio 4.