Reply To: National Gallery Extension

Edinburgh was more successful because the niches, cuts, and deep walls were a post modernist reinterpretation of poche within the Scottish Tower house. Likewise the scaling, mass and urban composition worked better in Edinburgh than Dublin (overscaled gestures within a Georgian street compared to a large scaled prominent corner in medieval Edinburgh). The fact that the architects were forced to maintain the adjacent building doesnt excuse the fact that the elevation is poorly composed. The detailing is a virtual return to the fussiness of the Baroque (and badly finshed by the Irish builders in Dublin). All said though, the handling of space and light is superb (cheers Corb).
Supposedly Benson claimed the influence of Ulysses and Dublin lore in the design of the building (cant say I got it)- can anyone throw some light on this?