How much has been spent on DublinÂ’s redevelopment?

It looks like the answer to your question will soon be known, a good starting point is the 1999 KPMG report

Another way, to calculate large figures,… via distributed computing, over peoples’ mobile phones!

:-0

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=22424

It certainly is a brave new world isn’t it?

Brian O’ Hanlon.

Just be glad we don’t live in Florida or the Carribean, where ‘big weather’ means they need to take pretty tough measures to build at all. Still even in Ireland, and Dublin, I guess an amount of money has gone under the ground, as well as over the ground. Unfortunately, few of us really understand, the stuff under the ground. Dunno if there are any engineers here in the house, but if you care to see how your colleagues over in Florida are building cities, as in the ‘city as designed by the engineers’,…

http://www.clearwater-fl.com/gov/depts/pwa/engin/Production/stddet/index.asp#100series

I reckon they get some pretty ‘big’ weather in Florida, so I guess Civil engineering standards have to be strict. It tells you why, when you have a plot to build upon, why you have to give a certain margin between you and the road – an easement – they call it over in the US. Notice in the link, how in the United States, they have ‘adapted’ the English language, so that everything almost contains an explanation, in the name itself. I overhead a couple of America ladies not too long ago, speaking referring to what we call ‘pedestrian lights’,… as ‘I guess we should cross at a cross-over’. You need the sufficient American ‘twang’ to say that properly too, btw. But funny, how I think, their terminology for Civil Engineering details, contains more or less the exact same ‘user-friendly’ naming scheme. In any case, any of you familiar with terms like rodding eye etc, should contrast it with the American equivalents. I love this ‘Wing Inlet’ Surface Water Manhole, it is like something straight out of Buffey the Vampire Slayer kinds of flics.

http://www.clearwater-fl.com/gov/depts/pwa/engin/Production/stddet/20901.pdf

I was having a quick squint at the storm water hardware installed in O’Connell Street new paved areas this morning, and there is plenty of capacity there for most flood situations I think, which is really good. It is nice how they have managed to integrate their particular likes of drainage channels into the stone landscaping too, while still giving enough capacity for any amount of rainwater. But if you really want extreme, go just down a little bit further south of Florida, to this caribbean disaster mitigation project website.

http://www.oas.org/CDMP/document/codedraw/intro.htm

Where the ‘General Construction Principles’ include, the use of ‘separation’ to improve resistance from tidal waves and hurricanes. 🙂

http://www.oas.org/CDMP/document/codedraw/sectna1.htm

Some of this stuff is exceptionally basic,

http://www.oas.org/CDMP/document/codedraw/images/fig-f-3.gif

But it gives you a clue, how much of a struggle any building at all, is in some parts of the world. It was really during the Glenn Murcutt lecture in 2003, in Bolton Street lecture theatre, where I first began to realise some bit, how basic things are in some places. I think Glenn Murcutt is one architect who amazing decided to operate in these kinds of conditions – albeit with better clients/budgets – and still manages to create architecture that is aesthetically profound, but functional to the n-th degree.

Brian O’ Hanlon.

Pit privies shall preferably be located on the leeward side of a building and shall be ventilated. Privies shall not be used in areas where the water table is within 2 feet of the surface since they will not function well. The precast concrete slab pit privy has been adopted by many health authorities.

There shall be openings at the top of the walls to dissipate odours. For maximum odour control a vent pipe can be installed in the tank to carry odours away from the privy. The vent pipe shall be at least 6.0 inches (150 mm) in diameter, painted black, screened with a wire gauze and located on the sunny side of the latrine so that air inside the pipe will heat up and create an up-draft. The pipe shall extend a minimum of 2 feet above the roof of the privy.

The door should open outwards to minimize the internal floor area.The toilet shall be sufficiently screened to discourage flies. The walls and roof shall be weatherproof, shall provide privacy, exclude vermin and be architecturally compatible in external appearance with the main house.

Quote:
Pit privies shall preferably be located on the leeward side of a building and shall be ventilated. Privies shall not be used in areas where the water table is within 2 feet of the surface since they will not function well. The precast concrete slab pit privy has been adopted by many health authorities.

There shall be openings at the top of the walls to dissipate odours. For maximum odour control a vent pipe can be installed in the tank to carry odours away from the privy. The vent pipe shall be at least 6.0 inches (150 mm) in diameter, painted black, screened with a wire gauze and located on the sunny side of the latrine so that air inside the pipe will heat up and create an up-draft. The pipe shall extend a minimum of 2 feet above the roof of the privy.

The door should open outwards to minimize the internal floor area.The toilet shall be sufficiently screened to discourage flies. The walls and roof shall be weatherproof, shall provide privacy, exclude vermin and be architecturally compatible in external appearance with the main house.

Is this from the Planning Application for the stretch of Fleet St between D`Olier and Westmoreland Streets ?
This little street becomes and “Avenue of Urine” from 23.30 onwards,especially at weekends.
In the old Irish Times days there was at least a semblance of activitry at their Printing Plant gate which did deter some “Pissers” usually the females.
Since the departure of this facility however,the gateways have simply turned into communal latrines for both sexes……and their pets…Talk about a Golden Shower !!!!!
Mind U there has been some Piss Poor journalsim in the Old Lady in recent times too…. 😮

Don’t knock it too much though, as I said, the architecture by guys like Glenn Murcutt down in Australia, has most or even more of this ‘functionality’ integrated into it,… and is still considered fairly cutting edge stuff. Yet all that most architectural books and publications want to focus on, is the glossy architectural photography aspects. Glenn Murcutt himself, denied himself all self-promotion, and award receiving all his life, just to focus and concentrate on making very utilitarian things like houses work efficiently. There is a good lesson there for all architects I am sure.

The whole concept of ecological architecture – of touching the earth lightly, boils down at the end of the day, to some fairly utilitarian concepts. I linked the bits about ‘Clearwater City, Florida’, because the idea of keeping the water clear is obviously one of their biggest aspirations – it might appear like a utilitarian enough aspiration, but I don’t know, maybe we have a lot to learn here in Ireland, in this whole department. The best way to see it clearly, is probably to get outside of Ireland altogether, to get a much better idea, of the efforts we are making here at home. Instead of giving a load of ‘lip-service’ to ‘Eco-this’ and ‘Eco-that’,… I would much, much prefer to see a sectional diagram of a s***-house, now and again, as part of an architects presentation.

http://www.oas.org/CDMP/document/codedraw/images/fig-f-3.gif

It may not be what the AAI wish to re-produce in their ‘brochures’ but anyhow. Herman Hertzberger even touched a part of this in his recent lecture here – the notion of providing lots of suitable ‘play-surface’ tarmac areas for young people to do what young people want to do – be dynamic. I must get a photo of the Central Bank skateboarders some time soon, to emphasise this point. I think the dynamism of these youths could add a dimension to urban landscaping and culture that shouldn’t be excluded. In much the same way, I think the flower sellers flowers on Grafton Street could be integrated in some way, that dignifies the whole performance too. Herman Hertzberger said something quite important I think, in his talk – about architecture trying to ‘raise people’,… not necessarily give them what they want – but raise people. I am sure Herman could take a postive enough view about the Pissers of Fleet Street too.

Because everything Herman had to do with Architecture, was about accepting the ‘reality’ of what people are, and turning it into some positive kind of opportunity. The fact that people have to use Fleet Street as a urinal, justs tells everyone so much about how Dublin City Centre has become, as a place that caters for people. I.e. Rather than use a commercial premise to do their nature’s stuff – they are obviously been discouraged from doing that and using a public street instead. I have a couple of more photos to post up shortly, but the Centre of Dublin really has a lot of growing up to do in the future. My ‘Herman on Form’ Post:

https://archiseek.com/content/showthread.php?t=3933

I guess most of my posts here at Archiseek, have been trying to look at this idea, of accepting people for what they are – and working from that as a starting point. I try to avoid as much as possible, the typical preconceived notion of people as merely Photoshop, cut-out, clip art props, that find their way into promotional renders and views of proposed developments. Lord knows, I have a big enough collection of clip-art people to put in building renders myself, but I know it is not a true representation of people at all.

https://archiseek.com/content/showthread.php?t=3703&page=3

Brian O’ Hanlon.