Short abstract:

Focusing on the nanomaterial graphene and the University of Manchester’s ‘Graphene City’ vision, this paper will explore the role of architecture in sustaining, expanding and mobilizing ‘hype’ in order to produce obdurate networks of 2D material research and development.

Long abstract:

As with many scientific breakthroughs (Nowotny and Felt, 1997), the isolation of graphene at the University of Manchester in 2004 was met with a frenzy of activity, as scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs looked to mobilise and exploit the new discovery. Like many nanotechnologies (Hessenbruch 2004; Selin, 2007; McGrail, 2010), graphene has given rise to expectations and visions surrounding potential future technological applications, from engineering to aerospace. However, this paper will outline that, at the University of Manchester, the hype surrounding graphene also gave rise to an urban vision: Graphene City. Attempting to reimagine Manchester as a ‘Silicon Valley of graphene’, the vision would be centred around three new state of the art research facilities – the National Graphene Institute (NGI), the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC) and the Henry Royce Institute (HRI).

This paper will explore the role of architecture in sustaining and expanding the hype around graphene, and ultimately attempting to consolidate Manchester as a global node in graphene and 2D materials research – attempting to give rise to an obdurate network of graphene expertise, embedded within the city which would endure long after the ‘peak’ of graphene’s hype. Drawing on semi-structured interviews and an ethnographic study conducted at the GEIC in 2019, this paper will explore the ways that these new developments looked to reframe both the city of Manchester and its scientific communities as a ‘critical mass’ for the commercialisation of 2D material technologies, and establish itself as ‘the home of graphene’.