O’ Connell Street, Dublin

has anyone any views on how the spire is lit at night.. I thikn it would look much better if it was flood lit at along its length

@Graham Hickey wrote:

This project is rather bizarre:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/content/articles/2004/07/31/bigscreendebut_feature.shtml

Can’t say I’d be a fan of big screens.

There was a very interesting report in the Sunday Times a year or so ago that focussed on the development of two large screens – one in Vienna and one London. The screens would be able to relay real time images and sounds from one city to the other – in short, you could walk up to the screen in Vienna and be seen on the screen in London at the exact same time thereby combining the two city streets in real time cyber space. The advantages and implications are quite amazing as you could effectively meet your friend in London while living in Vienna and have a normal conversation. Interesting development. Unfortunately, I have not seen any sign of it on my travels to Vienna and nor in London. In principle, however, it should work. Now there is a concept for a building (albeit very expensive). Cover the building is such screens (I am sure the technology will become cheaper and the screen material capable of covering larger expanses) and have real-time images of streets reflected through the screens. The skin of the building would become a panorma of world urbanism in real time. And who said that exciting things could not happen in Irish architecture – still hope for Dublin.

Now there is a concept for a building (albeit very expensive). Cover the building is such screens (I am sure the technology will become cheaper and the screen material capable of covering larger expanses) and have real-time images of streets reflected through the screens. The skin of the building would become a panorma of world urbanism in real time. And who said that exciting things could not happen in Irish architecture – still hope for Dublin.

this was imagined/planned for dublin?? very surprising

has there ever been any applications for a big screen in dublin?

@Graham Hickey wrote:

Agreed the D’Olier St site was a fine location for a statue island – what a shame O’Brien was moved.

When was Willy O’Brien moved? Was this a 20th century criminal activity or earlier?

I’ve heard that in South Korea there are television screens on the street that show Baduk games in real time, such is the country’s passion for the game (called Wei-chi in China, Igo in Japan, and Go internationally). Can’t think of an Irish equivalent. Maybe one of those reality tv shows?

@Peter FitzPatrick wrote:

think somebody suggested on the site before that large screens could be used to cover the loopline looking to sea from o’connell bridge, seamless screens could replicate the view of customs house etc. that would be, if the loopline wasn’t there, and of course whatever else you fancy when required …

I’ve often wondered about that (and I don’t wish to take up too much space given that this is an O’Connell Street thread rather than a loop line bridge thread).

The television pictures used for Formula 1 are able to show different advertising on bridges over the racetrack depending on whether the country receiving the pictures has a ban on, say, tobacco advertising or not. i.e. even though the spectators at the Grand Prix are able to see cars speeding under a bridge with MARLBORO written on it, countries which have a ban would show cars speeding under a bridge with ORANGE on it, countries which do not have a ban would show cars speeding under a bridge with MARLBORO on it.

If you’ve ever watched premier league football in England you may have seen advertising which appears to be on the pitch beside the goal (e.g. flybe.com, which looks like it is actually printed on the pitch, in much the same way that some advertising is actually printed on the pitch, like Permanent TSB for rugby matches). If you look at the reverse angle, flybe.com isn’t there.

The architects who designed the millenium pedestrian bridge – I’m afraid I can’t remember their name – did a clever thing with the lights which are set into the bridge. Apparently, within the bridge, there is a light meter which measures the length of the day. There is a fibre optic system which lights up the lights along the bridge and some kind of a coloured wheel through which the light passes. Depending on the duration of nighttime, as measured by the light metre, the wheel moves at different speeds, so that the light along the bridge changes from white to blue to green and back to white between dusk and dawn. (It struck me as clever when I found out about it a few years ago, though it may have been quite commonplace).

Anyway, the point is this: the technology appears to exist to be able to not show us things which actually are present (e.g. cigarette advertising), and to show us things which are not present (e.g. advertising beside the goal in football). The technology also seems to exist to measure the length of the day and apply it to lighting of a bridge. Could it also be applied to taking a picture of the skyline, in real time (scurrying clouds, etc.), as we would see it if the loop line bridge were not there?

Now clearly the loop line bridge needs to exist as it is a vital transport link, but could a combination of the above technologies be used to show us, as we walk along Burgh Quay or Eden Quay, what our vista would be if the loop line bridge did not exist? I’d imagine this would have to be done with screens of some sort.

Even if it could be done, I’d acknowledge that the most obvious flaw with this arrangement is that it would discommode people who like the look of the loop line bridge.

I have to say GregF I completely agree with you about the bins on Henry Street. They really don’t fit in with the ‘new’ look of the street. Does anyone have any idea why the Council got rid of the silver ones a few years back and replaced them with those awful, dirty black ones? It seems all the more surprising given that the Council has placed the new silver ones all along O’Connell Street. Furthermore, the paint or the iron or whatever it is on those black bins always seems to seep away after a few weeks and ruin the underneath paving surrounding the bins.
Having said that, I’m a huge fan of the new lights on Henry Street. Simple and reasonably elegant looking. I think the old ones were so tacky and cheap looking. An embarrassment really when one looks at the Christmas lighting erected in major cities like Paris, Strasbourg and even Oxford Street in London. What bugs me though is that the Council never seems to test the lights properly before they put them up each year. If you look at some of the Christmas lighting on Exchequer Street, George’s Street and even Grafton Street you’ll see that half the bulbs aren’t working on some of the decorations. It makes cheap and tacky lighting look even worse.

p.s. I know this post doesn’t really concern O’Connell Street but I wanted to reply to Greg’s comments

@Daragh wrote:

I have to say GregF I completely agree with you about the bins on Henry Street. They really don’t fit in with the ‘new’ look of the street. Does anyone have any idea why the Council got rid of the silver ones a few years back and replaced them with those awful, dirty black ones? It seems all the more surprising given that the Council has placed the new silver ones all along O’Connell Street. Furthermore, the paint or the iron or whatever it is on those black bins always seems to seep away after a few weeks and ruin the underneath paving surrounding the bins.
Having said that, I’m a huge fan of the new lights on Henry Street. Simple and reasonably elegant looking. I think the old ones were so tacky and cheap looking. An embarrassment really when one looks at the Christmas lighting erected in major cities like Paris, Strasbourg and even Oxford Street in London. What bugs me though is that the Council never seems to test the lights properly before they put them up each year. If you look at some of the Christmas lighting on Exchequer Street, George’s Street and even Grafton Street you’ll see that half the bulbs aren’t working on some of the decorations. It makes cheap and tacky lighting look even worse.

p.s. I know this post doesn’t really concern O’Connell Street but I wanted to reply to Greg’s comments

The black bins have a greater capacity I imagine