Manchester Art Gallery reopened in 2002 a mixture of refurbishment and new build. The design practice of Michael Hopkins played it cool. Here you'll find the architecture of good manners， a masterpiece of understated elegance¹.

Two of the three parts are original by Charles Barry - the architect of the Houses of Parliament. The first on Mosley Street is the result of a competition Barry won， when 29 years old， in 1824 to design a suitable space for the newly formed Manchester Institution for the promotion² of Literature， Science & Arts. The design reflects Barry's travels in Greece a few years before and is a sweet example of the Hellenic style then in fashion. The central feature is the portico³ between recessed⁴ bays. Barry’s motto was 'Nihil Pulchrun Nisi Utile’ which means 'nothing beautiful unless useful’。 The building became the City Art Gallery in 1882， the sale terms requiring an annual ??2000 spend on new works.

Round the corner on Princess Street is the former Athenaeum by Barry again， now part of the Gallery. This is an important building for the city. It opened in 1837 as a gentleman's club and here Barry introduced the Italian Renaissance⁵ style to the city and it proved popular. In the streets all around former warehouses⁶ and commercial premises⁷ were built in the so-called ’Palazzo' style. For many years the Athenaeum was a centre of Manchester cultural life witnessing lectures from individuals such as Charles Dickens and John Ruskin. Take note of the beautifully crisps script beneath the cornice.

The third part of the site comprises the clean spaces of the new building from Michael Hopkins Associates. Through skilful⁸ lighting⁹ and a specially¹⁰ formulated¹¹ concrete these defer¹² to the art they contain with good grace. Perhaps the highlight of the new work is the blissful glass atrium knitting the three parts and providing stairs， lifts and access. The bond between the textures¹³ of Barry's sandstone and the modern glass is seamless： as good an example of contemporary craftsmanship¹⁴ as can be found.

Visitors enter via Mosley Street， as Barry intended. Immediately you find yourself in the hall with， high above， the replica¹⁵ Elgin marbles given by George IV in 1830. The ground floor contains the cafe， restaurant， shop and the CIS Manchester Gallery devoted¹⁶ to the city's achievements in art and design both past and present. Also in this area is the MEN-sponsored Exhibitions Gallery with an emphasis on bringing art and community together.

The first floor houses the permanent collection. The rooms move clockwise from the C18 and include works from Stubbs， Gainsborough， Claude Lorrain， Canaletto， Constable， Turner， Pisarro， Gauguin， August Rodin and others. You'll also find in these rooms one of the nation’s best collections of Pre-Raphaelite art： with Holman Hunt's Hireling Shepherd， John Everett Millais’ Autumn Leaves. Rossetti's remarkable¹⁸ Astarte Syriaca and Ford¹⁹ Madox Brown’s masterpiece Work.

The new building contains a collection of British C20 art with works from Stanley Spencer， Lucien Freud， Francis Bacon， David Hockney and Bridget Riley. Here also is the space for visiting exhibitions， large enough to attract the best internationally. The ground floor areas provide educational space. The first floor area between the new building and the Athenaeum contains the Clore Interactive²⁰ Gallery aimed at 5-12 year olds and their families.

The Athenaeum's most dramatic space is the former lecture hall， built in 1873 by the firm of Clegg and Knowles when the building was rejigged. This double height space boasts splendid plasterwork including female personifications of the arts， humanities， science and industry and houses the Gallery of Craft and Design. This contains an international collection of a thousand plus objects including ceramics， glass， metalwork， furniture， costumes， textiles， toys， dolls houses and even armour²². The oldest dates from 1000BC and the most recent from C21. There are three themes： Making， Memory and Collecting and works from Picasso， Rene Lalique， Faberge and Terence Conran.

Elsewhere in the Atheneaum， the city's collection of pre-1700 art， including work from Renaissance and Dutch masters is displayed.