Re: Re: Developments in Cork
Most developments in Cork are cheap and badly designed. We are building a short term future that will lead to problems for the next generations. We are also killing the character of our once beautiful city. We are killing our opportunity to be a considerate and beautiful travel destination. We are killing the future of our economy. We should be building high quality buildings not badly designed ones. The problem is we are not running a democracy here and we dont have even the expertese of our planning officers (if somewhat limited sometimes it is a valid system to protect the publics interest) to rely on. Cork is a subtle 18th and 19th Century Urban landscape.
New buildings require a certain response to this. A good designer will analise this and adhere to the rules to benefit the continuation of a masterful set of rules set down in the past few thousand years by experienced urban designers. But no we (some architects) know it all now and we dont need to analise history or respect existing urban environments. What is good for Serbiton is good for Cork. What is limited in the imagination of Developers is limited in the imagination of their architects. Developers are supported by the city managers office. Why does the University maintain a high standard but the City cannot. What we have in Cork is limited to the mediocraty of those running the City and those developing it. What we see are their, limited ambitions and their limited imaginations. Their greed and egos are leading the way for the future problems of our children and the destruction of this once beautiful place. We are not getting the architecture of the Tate Modern, we are getting the architecture of a buisness park in Serbaton. It has got to stop.
I have read numerous planning recommendations, by planners lately where their comments (constructive in many cases) are ignored and the planning applications are granted. Yes we should be promoting as much development as possible and creating a development environment but we should not just grant everything without looking at redesign or modification where inappropriate. The Council and City Manager should realise that they are destroying the city and should at least take the advice of the paid professionals that we are all supposed to rely on.
The Lonely Planet guide calls Irish people tacky. People in Dublin describe development in Cork as low class, plastic and tacky. We can hardly disagree with them.
Please look around at the stage set that is the centre of Cork and become aware of what was trying to be achieved by its original concept. Public bildings were clearly positiond and the general mass of buildings has a considerate calmness that creates a stage set of considerable grace and proportion. While the planners and architects are largely ignored, Cork is run by people who have no real education in the field of planning and urban design. Goodbye Cork. Hello Serbiton. Hello Marbella. Goodbye education. Hello ignorance. Goodbye democracy. Hello greed, deceipt and hello to corruption. We are not overestimating. There is no equality in Cork, no freedom, no brotherhood. There is no democracy. There is hardly a free or educated press. Recently the city manager sold a portion of the city centre on Popes Quay to a property developer to park his cars for 1 euro. Though the area is of significan value to the city as an open space. The Civic Trust supported this. They should resign.This was public land since its development in the 18th Century. Planning files have gone missing. It gets worse. Go and ask for the planning file for 6 and 7 Lapps quay in the Planning Department. See what you get. Go and look at the planning file for 21 Lapps Quay.
