After my first visit I had never even noticed these brass portholes attached to buildings, they actually looked like parts of the buildings. The peepholes allow you to look into another world, a scene or piece of history. It is not known exactly how many peep holes there are or their exact whereabouts.
I found this 'Map of the Peeps' on the website
The story behind the creation of the 'Peeps' is that as Ancoats industries moved out of the area and buildings were being bought for regeneration, the Ancoats Urban Village Company held a nationwide competition to create a public sculpture as part of the regeneration. Artist and architect, Dan Dubowitz won the commission but when arriving in Ancoats stated that the area did not need a sculpture as "the whole area is a sculpture in a way, a visual beast” and that "Ancoats needed something subtle you would stumble across. It needed something about the whole area and the identity of the area that people could be involved in." This is how the idea of the peeps was formed. Dan was particularly interested in the existing derelict buildings and wastelands opposed to the new developments. Each peep was installed on a building site and became 'features' of Ancoats.
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