Re: Re: Liffey Cable Cars – Pointless Gimmick or….

“If we have beautiful historic quays lining the Liffey I could understand the negative reaction these towers are inciting, but I really don’t get why so many people are horrified by this project to the level they are – except perhaps the old Oirish fear of anything new and unique. We are hardly an innovative or dynamic culture – we are the boiled cabbage eaters, the conservative clods on the fringes of Europe wagging his finger at anything which manifest from outside the pre-determind box we are all so comfortable locking ourselves into. As Joyce said “the centre of paralysis” and all that.”

Well said Cute Panda. The quays as far as I am concerned are the ugliest and most inspirationally devoid area of central Dublin. They are drab bland and should be levelled (apart from notable exceptions) to make way for something befitting a capital city and not that of a provential town. As you say it’s not as if this proposition is going to architecturally churn through beautiful street scapes. I think somewhere like the quays needs all the help it can get. Debates on this forum on the whole, tend to be caried out with the utmost objectivity generally, but ocasionally when something new and inovative is proposed a great many posters seem to revert back to form and play the “Historic skyline card”. There seems to be a strong train of thought predominent in Dublin that if a building predates a certain era then it should be protected at all cost which is ridiculous. And as you say if the surrounding buildings are too low, then build higher ones. In terms of architecture which predates the 20th century -If it’s drap knock it down – it’s it’s not, keep it. Dublin is a city on the similar scale (size) as somewhere like Brussells or Amsterdam and not a “small Irish city” (Somewhere like Cork, Kilkenny or Limerick fit this bill) buildinds and streetscape should reflect it’s urban nature. And central Dublin apart from the quays which look provential fit this role. Apart from levelling the quays and building them up which is my ultimate preference, any suggestion which changes the boring nature of what we currently have should be welcomed.