Restore Restore
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Monday 15th Sept.
Was anyone else knocked out with incredulity at the Northern Irish Lissen House coming second in the polls yesterday?
For those who did’nt see it, Victoria Baths came first, with Lissen second (can’t remember 3rd)
I never knew sympathy votes could be so effective – because this was clearly one of those!
People on ‘the mainland’ are usually so alien to Northern Ireland in every respect.I was raging that Victoria Baths won, they did’nt need the money – one way or the other the local autority would have stumped up the cash as a result of all the hype & publicity.
Poor old Mavisbank in Scotland was the most deserving, for so many architectural & historic reasons – and the fact that it’s unlikey that such a sum is otherwise going to be made available to it.
And Lissen House certainly won’t either, it’s staircase was amazing and so important.
Victoria Baths was extraordinary too, but should’nt have won, it could have got all the money it wanted regardless.
You’re not really serious are you ASDASD????,
Its not ‘petty nationalism to distinguish between the two, just plain stupid (and I’m speaking as an Olympic Standard eejit).
If you take that line you come back to three Iriah Architectural building types – 1. The Round Tower, 2. The Ball Alley and finally 3. the hole in the ground with branches and skins over that the poor befuddled Irish peasantry lived in until some ‘colonist’ introduced the concept of the ‘building’ (probably some bleedin norwegian).
As to scales of colonialism – don’t be a nit, for most of our history the King of England (like it or not) was regarded as ‘Our’ King.
Lastly – was the Duke of Leinster an Irishman, Stapleton the stuccodore – was he Irish, were the PBI who built everything in this country Irish?.
Honest to God, sometimes the ‘sophistication’ of thought processes such as yours on Archeire would be funny if they were’nt so monumentally daft.
Wake up, smell the daisy’s and buy yourself a copy of Maurice Craig’s ‘Dublin’ – then again you can’t really trust Craig to properly appraise ‘Irishry’ he’s a Belfast Prod!!!!!!.
Ireland’s greatest contribution to late 20th C architecture and continuing into the 21st C has to be the invention and proliferation of the SUPERPUB.
There were comments made about focusing on ancient buldings (I’m being lazy and not inserting the exact quotes).
Surely the restoration of Newgrange is something we can all be proud of – a world heritage site if there ever was one in this country. I’d prefer to see something like that restored over Henrietta St (no offence to Henr St!).
I have to honestly say I reckoned Victoria Baths would get the award from the outset. Its such a telegenic choice – public facility, great for the kids, ancient swimming legend as a sponsor – not to mention it being in one of the largest cities which is itself currently geared up to renovation and restoration. As the Norfolk entry said: how can 35,000 inhabitants of Kings Lynn compete with Manchester! I think it was a worthy choice although you may be right about the city council tackling the project at some stage with or without the award.
It was heartening to hear the stories from some of the losers that the interest in their structures had rocketted since they were on TV. RESTORATION has at least given heritage in the UK some much needed headline space.
Newgrange is more of a 19th century ‘reconstruction’ than a restoration.
The point about restoration is that primary material is retained (eg: the building and its components), choosing teh Newgrange restoration whihc is a lovely piece of Disneyesque claptrap over Henrietta St which is still substantially intact would probably be a big mistake.
Mind you, on the other hand, there has’nt been a huge amount of damage done to the henrietta St houses apart from the removal of fire surrounds and the primary staircases (I think only about half of these survive).
The Dublin Corpo – Blitzkrieg approach to restoration always frightends me – the two wide streets commissioners houses on capel st were all but destroyed in their ‘restoration’ and the facade treatment certainly refers to no known render treatment in Dublin contemporary to such buildings.
If I had a choice wit hHenrietta St it would be to secure the external envelope, roofs, windows, etc, eradicate sources and causes of rising damp and dry rot and do nothing else!!.
Newgrange is more of a 19th century ‘reconstruction’ than a restoration.
Since Newgrange was restored in the 1960s I dont get your point?!?
It was archeologically (spelling) examined in the 19th century but was’nt ‘reconstructed till the 60s – indeed it’s value was noted in the 18th century.
The limestone ‘cladding’ in the central section is purposely a different material to the rest to make note of the fact that nobody knows what the front and ‘roof box’ (where the sun comes in) originally looked like, its guesswork.
It’s extraordinary to come up to an international monument, and find it’s main front looking like the facade of a bungalow blitz house, further added to by 60’s balustrading over the entrance stone.
Its almost charming its so bizarre.
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