Re: Re: Grafton Street, Dublin

I concur with most of your points Peter. The clash is highly unsatisfactory – the contrast between the two simply isn’t stark enough. Placing two vaguely similar granites side by side is like a bizarre showroom display. It simply makes no visual sense. It looks like there wasn’t enough to go around. Which is correct. There wasn’t. But we shouldn’t have to live with this resourcing reality literally concreted into the ground! Coupled with the line of guttering and yet another division in the form of the wayfinding band, the effect is nothing short of chaotic. Where’s the grace? Where’s the prestige? Where’s the design response to Grafton Street?

I wouldn’t be harsh on the Portugese granite – it’s a beautiful choice. Walking over it again in the rain the other day, it’s simply magnificent. What a robust, stately material. It will be interesting to see what it looks like once cleaned, sealed, and worn in a little. Agreed, it looks plain against the Leinster granite, but in its own right it’s a fine material. I was trying to think what the slab laying pattern, wide jointing and rough finish reminded me of – it looks very ‘Dublin’, even though we never had paving of this kind historically. It is quite evocative of the weathered ashlar blocks of Trinity’s West Front with its wide joints and granular texture.