The Musical Microcosm: Designing for a future of music in the city Part 2 Project 2025 Siobhan Ironside University of Strathclyde | UK Glasgow’s music scene is under increasing threat from venue closures, weakened support systems, and growing homogenisation. This thesis responds to these challenges with an architectural proposal that reimagines how music is created, performed, and experienced in the city.Set on the site of Glasgow’s O2 ABC, a once-iconic venue lost to fire and unnecessary demolition, the design constructs a self-sustaining musical microcosm that centres musicians, makers, and audiences. Drawing from themes in Jacques Rancière’s The Emancipated Spectator, it challenges the passivity of traditional audiences, instead inviting thepublic into the processes of music-making to encourage deeper engagement and understanding.The project merges architectural and musical methods through experimental drawing, composition, and material exploration. A spatial programme derived from the musical structure of the circle of fifths offers a cyclical model of activity and support for musicians at all stages. Spaces for rehearsal, performance, education, production and industry coexist within the building, embedded into Glasgow’s High Street to reconnect music with everyday life.This thesis presents a counter-narrative for Glasgow’s music industry; not one of decline, but of radical possibility. It hopes to offer a vision of what could have been for the ABC and for music in the city. Tutor(s)