1913 – Proposal for Bridge Gallery of Modern Art, Dublin

Sketch design by the architect Horace T. O’Rourke for a new gallery on a bridge in the River Liffey, as a counter design to the gallery proposal of Sir Hugh Lane and Edwin Lutyens. The selling point of this design seems to have been the preservation of the view of the setting sun, and a new vehicle route across the river. A clumsy design, a good portion of the gallery space would have been below the waterline during seasonal high tides. O’Rourke was editor of the Irish Architect and Craftsman which ran a vigourous campaign against the Lutyens design. The magazine only survived for three years, Horace T. O’Rourke later became Dublin City Architect. Illustration published in the Irish Architect, August 30 1913.