New Public Space for Docklands
- This topic has 200 replies, 60 voices, and was last updated 18 years, 11 months ago by
.
- Posts
If Harry Crosbie has bought the new Liebeskind venue I suppose this will be completed before the Point redevelopment starts, else there’ll be no place in the docks for concerts, etc…
Mmm, I wonder. I thought the Point Depot itself was being shut for it’s re-gig this autumn. I wonder would he consider keeping it open in it’s currenty guise until the Liebskind theatre is open ? That’s going to be a couple of years though.
Some of the big concert promoters are looking to erect temporary structures (big tents) in the Phoenix Park and perhaps at the Museum of Modern Art while the Point is closed. No doubt other options will also be suggested.
As for Grand Canal Square – Hanby Wallace solicitors has signed up to move to one of the new buildings under construction in the area. Looks like this is turning into the new legal quarter.
Quote:[Would a glazed surface not have given a little more class?/QUOTE]Better avoid putting in glazed surfaces for the moment, with all this rain – personal injuries cases could abound…
🙂So why is it always so? The DDDA had one of their festivals in gc square this weekend, the events looked very good, but, well, when they had the space designed oh a few months ago they obviously hadn’t thought that they would ever use it for something like this because the square looked a mess: to hold the event they had to string those crappy barriers everywhere, lots of them rubbing up against the crazy red poles and scuffing them, they also stuck signs on the red poles with cable ties. Why couldn’t the space had been laid out to allow it to be used for events without the crappiness?
I noticed on Sunday that many of the strips for the illuminated borders on the red sections are shattered.
so the square in full use, anyone go to these concerts over the weekend I applied for dl food didn’t get tickets though :/ http://www.analongconcerts.ie looking at some boards it seems connected people somehow won the lottery
looks ok http://www.flickr.com/photos/gtx2/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bazhickey/837231135/anyway gigs reviews good for dj food cinema orchestra good but a bit too laid for going on last nothing about the space?
I was at the Konono No.1 show on Saturday night and the Glenn Branca one on Sunday afternoon.
I agree with notjim- the square wasn’t meant for this sort of event. I’ve expressed reservations before about the usability of the square. It’s been one of my main concerns with the Schwartz design since the beginning. There’s just too much clutter, yet at the same time it’s too exposed as a performance space. No doubt this will change when the Libeskind theatre is finished, but sufficiently? I have my doubts, but we’ll see.
The really disappointing/annoying thing about the weekend was the excessive use of crash barriers everywhere, which added to the clutter without having any discernible benefits. It just wasn’t the sort of crowd that needed herding. I can only presume they were required by some insurance policy clause or other. Whatever about the need to restrict access to the ticket-holder area, there was no need to seal off access to the edge of the water and the seats. The quay is open year round, with no apparent problems, so why the need to do it for a concert? Apart from anything else, for many people attending it was their first time seeing the new works, and they wanted to walk out to the end of the red carpet and have a closer look at the magic wands, but couldn’t. Though given the damage that was done to the red poles inside the ticket-holder area, as noted by notjim, maybe the crash barriers were there to protect the poles from other crash barriers?
While there I did a highly scientific survey among my friends (mostly non-specialists, just regular citizens), asking what they thought of the place, and all but one said they didn’t like it. Opinions ranged from ‘Like a playground in a 1980s housing scheme in Barcelona’ (from someone who used to live in Barcelona) to the simple ‘cheap and tacky- I wonder how it will age?’ Some people did like the red poles, but the green lights fared less well. The planting was generally much liked.
One last thing- apparently they had to use an inflatable stage, as seen in the Flickr pics posted above, because the square has a limited load capacity due to the car park below. A bigger crowd, which would have created a better atmosphere, might also have been too much weight.
I was down there (albeit over at Ocean bar) during one of the gigs last week and had a few thoughts:
- The metal barriers completely ruined whatever positive visuals there were. They had this new, exciting open area, and promptly blocked it off to prevent what appeared to be a small and quiet crowd of people from… what? walking close to the water?
- The part of the square that extends over the water was blocked, i presume for insurance reasons, but it left the place looking a little ‘wrong’
- Red poles look interesting, they were brighter than I thought they’d be,interesting light patterns
Here’s some photos from the other day 2/8/07
Does anyone know what type of glass this is?
Excuse the redness of the poles – ISO was set incorrectly
The new bridge:
I wonder why they don’t turn on the red lights in the ground that you can see in the hoarding photos Morlan posted. I saw them turned on once a few months back and they looked really great at night
The structural fins in the DMOD office building on the square are covered in a “dichroic” film which has the effect of reflecting and transmitting complementary halves of the spectrum of light, creating constantly changing fields of colour from different angles. The main glass facade uses standard solar glazing on the wide panels and a low reflectivity glass on the narrow bands. It’s a very effective combination and it transforms a fairly standard curtain walled office block into something a little bit ethereal and dynamic…
Is there a perimeter of red neon lighting around each red brick area?Looks as if this was cut from the original plans.Pity really as it would look quality with the green neon strips at night.
When do they expect to begin the hotel and concert arena?They’ll most likely make crap of the place when work begins.@BTH wrote:
The structural fins in the DMOD office building on the square are covered in a “dichroic” film which has the effect of reflecting and transmitting complementary halves of the spectrum of light,
Thanks for that BTH. My father actually has several Dichroic Mirrors in his house which he used for RGB television projection. Very expensive pieces of kit!
@demolition man wrote:
Is there a perimeter of red neon lighting around each red brick area?
When do they expect to begin the hotel and concert arena?They’ll most likely make crap of the place when work begins.The red stips are there, but not turned on yet.
I’m guessing that the delivery of construction materials will be made at the back of the theatre via Macken Street, so the main square should be safe.
The hotel, by the looks of it, will be finished by Christmas.
Oh my god, I must say I am absolutely in love with the place. It’s so nice and has a really good european feel to it. I shall definitely pay a visit to the square when I’m in Dublin next. Wow. 😀
So looks like the facade work has started on the hotel in grand canal square. I was under the impression it was supposed to be stone, but what is visible so far is some kind of white plastic. Could this be some sort of underlayer? Or have they just gone for the cheap option…
Looks like they’re being inconsistent with the powering on of the various lights.
Last time I was there the poles weren’t illuminated, but the red strips mentioned by Morlan above were.@igy wrote:
Looks like they’re being inconsistent with the powering on of the various lights.
Last time I was there the poles weren’t illuminated, but the red strips mentioned by Morlan above were.The lights have been off for the last week or so. The street lights are off in the adjoining street down to the liffey and along the liffey too, and I noticed that the green lights on the same side of the square were off but the other side were on. So hopefully this is a temporary electricity grid problem rather than ‘policy’.
On a related note it’s a shame they don’t light up the McCann Fitzgerald building anymore :(. It looked fantastic at night when lit up last winter.
There isn’t a raised eyebrow smiley is there?
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
