Dublin vistas
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Vistas – St Georges Church and Hardwick street
The Black Church and Gramby Row
Holles Street Hospital & Georgian MileIt can be done but we just dont do it anymore
@Rory W wrote:
Vistas – St Georges Church and Hardwick street
The Black Church and Gramby Row
Holles Street Hospital & Georgian MileNo, Yes, and Yes, though I wonder whether the Black Church -Granby vista was actually intentional or just a side effect of the island site. (Thinking about it, Semple seems to have had a thing for churches at junctions or on island sites- Rathmines, Black Church, and didn’t he do the one on Anglesea Road?) Anyway, while that one is debatable, the hospital at Holles Street is in fact an asymmetrical building with an off-centre pediment aligned with the Mile, which signifies to me that the axiality is fully intended.
@GrahamH wrote:
Yeah lets face it, Dublin was never great on the aul vistas. We couldn’t be arsed frankly lol.
What I find odd about this whole thing is that during Georgian times, Dublin was a city characterised by planarity and frontality- the Baroque concept of the building as a sculptural object ‘in the round’ was largely alien here for the most part. Yet when it was most required (from a strict classical point of view) – at the ends of vistas – it was fudged.
(Minor point, Graham- I think Dublin was pretty good at vistas, just not very good at closing them.)
@ctesiphon wrote:
What I find odd about this whole thing is that during Georgian times, Dublin was a city characterised by planarity and frontality- the Baroque concept of the building as a sculptural object ‘in the round’ was largely alien here for the most part. Yet when it was most required (from a strict classical point of view) – at the ends of vistas – it was fudged.
(Minor point, Graham- I think Dublin was pretty good at vistas, just not very good at closing them.)
Couldn’t agree with you more – there’s little more to add to that. In fact I think that is one of the reasons for the fetish of the ‘Georgian corner’ in Dublin; it’s so incredibly rare that you get a townhouse or element of streetscape of substance in this city. It’s all a charade!
And of course this underscores what a loss the WSC developments were. What they never contrived through axially-aligned vistas was at least made up for with streetscapes of distinction and solidity through well-contrived turning points, sadly nearly all of which have vanished.
someone mentioned the Spire blocking the view towards Amiens St earlier. May I venture that it also in fact closes two?
Back to the present & the DDDA are capping their own, ahem, ‘modern mile’ (i like to call it the ‘mile of crap’) with, you’ve guessed it, 32 stories of crap 😀
ok, i’m being a little harsh … the alignment of the watchtower is actually a good thing – the completed Mayor street will probably be the longest ‘closed vista’ in the city. Although the renders of the watchtower aren’t promising, i’m hoping the finished product might be worthy of its on axis location.
Thhe view from the junction of Mountjoy Sq/Upr Gardiner st towards the Presbyterian Church spire at Parnell Sq and Nth Fred is a favourite of mine
urban building that is located and oriented precisely on an axis
have thought of quite a few, some intended, some accidentalintended:
Belvedere House – Nth Georges St
Law Society – Blackhall St
Ely House – Hume St
Cecilia House – Crow St
Christchurch – Lord Edward St
St Annes church – Anne St St
Presbyterian church – Earlsfort Terrace
Mercer Hospital – William St
ICS Building – O’Connell St/Bridge
Bank Lords Portico – College St
AiB – Mary St 🙁
Corner Buildings – Mountjoy SqAccidental:
Church – Cows Lane
Clerys – Prince St
St Catherines – Bridgefoot StSome of the finest set pieces were located in the Gardiner Estate. The Church (Methodist Hall?) located on Nth Charles St was (is) quite a domestic building terminating the equally domestic Upr Rutland St. Great Picture of this small georgian street in recent book (Dublin, an urban history). This street doesnt even exist anymore.
I feel some detective work coming on!
(Also, I like when low post-count posters come out of the woodwork- a sign that a thread is more than usually interesting? I still think this might merit its own thread- perhaps when I return with some photos I’ll start one up.)
EDIT: Thanks Paul.
Candidate for most disappointing vista would be the view down Westland Row / Lombard St. towards that Jury’s Inn on the North Wall.
Does the Gormley Wire Man step into that vista do we know?
‘Low post-count poster’! It’s always good to get a new label.
Aren’t the Berkeley Library steps and the Printhouse, attractively and perhaps even perfectly aligned.
@rperse wrote:
Church – Cows Lane
As planned this would have been aligned perfectly with the church but the health and safety twits at the corpo decided to muck it up insisting that cows lane was wide enough to drive a fire truck down. (i dont think they thought IT HAS STEPS ON IT – idiots)
Yes and then they added features to try and re-establish the illusion of alignment while blocking any fire engine.
Ha – it’s still attractive nonetheless. Why wasn’t Essex Street sufficient I wonder?
Just around the corner, as mentioned, City Hall is off axis.
And the view down Capel Street. Another few inches would have aligned the flagpole with the dome in the picture, so you can see it’s clearly off centre.
The vista of the Old Library in Trinity when emerging from the Arts Block in late afternoon is always breathtaking.
And the perfectly aligned campanile in Parliament Square with the main entrance. I don’t have the view in question, but it’s probably the only accurately composed vista in the city. Interestingly it’s also one of the few instances where there was complete control over the setting, which says a lot.
Ah this is a wonderful thread 🙂
Nice shots there Graham…suppose City Hall best appears aligned if one walks along the left hand side of Parliament St…
Re Cows Lane, imo its a real cock-up in that the view to the key vista-closer, the cut-stone church, is obstructed by the centrally located street lights. People don’t seem to know how to interact with this space, and I dont think that these centrally placed units assist…
Another nice little eye-catcher is the view thru the lane to Government Buildings/ Chas Mahal from Fitzwilliam St – seemingly unintended, its a real charmer 🙂
@GrahamH wrote:
And the perfectly aligned campanile in Parliament Square with the main entrance. I don’t have the view in question, but it’s probably the only accurately composed vista in the city.
I really must upload the bigger versions:
http://ireland.archiseek.com/buildings_ireland/dublin/southcity/trinity/campanile_lge.htmlhttp://ireland.archiseek.com/buildings_ireland/dublin/southcity/trinity/campanile_detail_lge.html
@hutton wrote:
Another nice little eye-catcher is the view thru the lane to Government Buildings/ Chas Mahal from Fitzwilliam St – seemingly unintended, its a real charmer 🙂
damn it, that was meant to be a secret! see it every day. it’s great
Isn’t it! The contrast of such a monumental building viewed down a dinky little laneway is so striking.
Some great subtle ones listed there rperse, with Mary Street in the so-bad-it’s-good category 🙂
The Four Courts viewed through the hole on Cook Street is another. Wonderful to get such a sharp head-on view from a distance, though it is compromised a little by an invading building if I recall. It’d remind you of the elevational drawing on the back of the old £20 note.
one step forward!
don’t give me to much shit for this!!!
its called i don’t want a pica dilly circus
plaza yesthis is one very important vista as you walk up towards this area from grafton street minus the poles and carkpark sign and the rest
Not on axis.
Next!
(Do we really have to put up with this nonsense?)
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