“Both Manchester and Melbourne are busy reinventing themselves. At heart, both are great Victorian cities that, following economic slumps, have been rapidly modernising. They are centres of sport and culture, their populations comprise a rainbow of backgrounds, and they boast impressive tram networks (trams make city centres special). Yet both cities have been what you might call just a little bit provincial in their commissioning of new architecture over the past 20 years. Now, though, they are clearly benefiting from importing design talent from one side of the world to the other.”