Sam Stephenson [Enfant Terrible!]
- This topic has 54 replies, 27 voices, and was last updated 19 years, 9 months ago by
.
- Posts
Permit me please, as an outsider to express a view.
Sam Stephenson is radical architect, no doubt about it. His work is considered. forceful and opinionated, like all pioneering work should be.
He is like our own Basil Spence and people will have a love hate ralationship with his work, which is exactly as it should be.
He is also a witty commentator, from what I’ve read. For me his best project is the Institute of Advanced Studies
……any remember the Bord Na Mona offices having a unique little sculpture of a turf cutter outside …..alas now gone!
@StephenC wrote:
I wonder of they resited it? Doesnt this building have someone hanging of it instead now?
It went to their new offices in Newbridge a number of years ago
Wow ! I’m impressed by your tenacity.
Have you really been researching this issue for 2 full years Diaspora? 😉Does anyone know whether Stephenson Associates’ work, particularly the former Bord na Mona building in Baggot St in Dublin, is covered in any books- for example have Gandon Editions published anything about Sam Stephenson, like a monograph? Or perhaps it’s mentioned in some of Frank McDonald’s books? I’m based in Scotland, so I don’t have ready access to Irish arch. books… and Gandon (who seem the most likely to publish about Irish architects) don’t seem to have a website. I saw a postage stamp with the Bord na Mona building on it years ago, but nothing since. Curses!
Sam is the architect for Blooms Hotel in Temple Bar, which is due a decision any day from An Bord Pleanala after receiving a grant from DCC.
Development involves demolition of existing structure (with the exception of the façade and some internal features of the VAT House pub (protected structure) ) and the provision of a 9 storey over double basement Hotel.
“Red brick and lavatory windows ” still typifies his 1970s work for me. Reading Simon on previous page was quite nostalgic, Before Nico’s it was Marios (Bernardos) in Lincoln Place, where Nico once was head waiter. They were some parties! Whatever happened to the conversation pit?
@d_d_dallas wrote:
Is he involved on a project on Tara St?
Afaik he is – he gave a talk in UCD 7 years ago at which he raised the matter. Said that one of the benifits would be that it would block out views of Hawkins House:D . Sam – you got to hand it to him.
Not an once of PVC on any of his projects it was a pity that his peak hit when Ireland was broke and only for that he may have acheived a lot more.
RIP
PVC King, do you have to be so facetious – it is extremely poor taste considering.
Death of leading architect at age of 72
Ireland’s best-known architect, Sam Stephenson, has died suddenly following a heart operation at St James’s Hospital in Dublin. He was 72 and had been working on a number of major projects in the weeks prior to his death, writes Frank McDonald, Environment Editor.
Chiefly known as the architect of the ESB headquarters in Fitzwilliam Street, the Central Bank in Dame Street and the first phase of the Civic Offices at Wood Quay, he was one of the most colourful figures in the architectural profession.
His long-time partner in practice, Arthur Gibney, died last May.
For many years, their firm – Stephenson Gibney and Associates – dominated the architectural scene in Ireland, rivalled only by Scott Tallon Walker.
“It’s very sad news”, said painter James Hanley, secretary of the Royal Hibernian Academy. “I had met him at the RHA gallery only last Friday when he looked a bit poorly and he told me he was going in to St James’s for an operation.
“It’s shocking to think that Arthur, Sam and Charlie Haughey have all now passed away within months of each other”, Mr Hanley said.
Arthur Gibney had been president of the RHA, while the former taoiseach was a great friend and patron.
Sam Stephenson’s eldest son, Sam junior, is administrator at the RHA’s Gallagher Gallery in Ely Place. His wife, Caroline Stephenson, is a daughter of the late Fine Gael senator Alexis FitzGerald. The couple had two young sons.
“Caroline wanted me to do a portrait of Sam, but I just hadn’t got around to it”, said Mr Hanley, who recently painted Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.
© The Irish Times
I am flumoxed – Arthur a couple of months ago, and now Sam… both of whom I had had the pleasure of meeting, both of whom were of assistance at different points although they were under no obligation to be.
RIP 🙁
Do not mis-interpret what I said; Sam Stephenson is one of the most talented designers of his generation Internationally and but for the fiscal backdrop he would have had much larger budgets to play with.
Rodgers in this context is lucky he is based in London at a time when there is virtually unlimited funding and China are completing projects on a scale that heretofore was unthinkable.
The Central Bank could have been only one of a large number of his iconic contributions had there been more money around.
PVC King wrote:Do not mis-interpret what I said]Point taken. Btw its not so much that I am/ was a fan of his work – Woodquay was a disaster, while the Central Bank saga was an afront to planning – but nonethelesss if he was a rogue, as an individual he was very much a likeable rogue!
Despite the divisiveness of their birth, some of his schemes in retrospect will be regarded highly – not least the former Bord Na Mona building on Baggot St. I am not sure if I agree with yourpoint regarding the fiscal landscape in which he operated – he seemed to get a lot done anyway.
Is there any news yet on the funeral arrangements?
His best (in my opinion!)
courtesy fjp.
i agree. the central bank has aged incredibly well, and from several vistas, including the above, looks the business. also a big fan of the bord na mona building. not so much of others. But Sam was a pleasant fellow to deal with. RIP
The Central Bank his greatest built design? Agreed.
It would be great to pay tribute on this board by posting photos of his other buildings (good and not so good). I don’t have any myself, but there are a few people here who will undoubtedly have loads!
Central Bank
http://www.irish-architecture.com/buildings_ireland/dublin/southcity/dame_street/central_bank_lge.htmlBord na Mona
http://www.irish-architecture.com/buildings_ireland/dublin/southcity/baggot_street/02_lge.html
http://www.irish-architecture.com/buildings_ireland/dublin/southcity/baggot_street/02_2_lge.htmlESB
http://www.irish-architecture.com/buildings_ireland/dublin/southcity/fitzwilliam_street/esb_lge.htmlWood Quay
http://www.irish-architecture.com/buildings_ireland/dublin/southcity/quays/wood/wood_lge.htmlMcInerney Block
http://www.irish-architecture.com/buildings_ireland/dublin/southcity/grand_canal_street/mcinerney_lge.htmlDublin Institute for Advanced Studies
http://www.irish-architecture.com/buildings_ireland/dublin/ballsbridge/burlington_road/advanced_studies_lge.htmlHe was an artist – maybe wrong sometimes – but confident in his vision.
I hope we may see his likes again – we are the poorer for his passing imho.
RIP
Very sad news, and shocking – one could never imagine Sam as being less than larger than life and in full health. Only heard it on the radio this morning, ironically on the exact same programme as the very last time I heard him – booming in tandem with Tom McGurk in debate, waxing about Dublin’s development past and present. As far as I recall, he had come round to the opinion that all tall buildings ought to be centralised in the Docklands.
You can listen here to Frank McDonald on the radio this morning, as well as a clip of Sam recalling sleeping with Charles Haughey – twice 🙂
http://dynamic.rte.ie/av/230-2190644.smil (5.30)
He always came across as casual and rather tongue in cheek in his later media dealings – as if bemused that people would want to listen to what he had to say. And frankly he did have very little to say when in conversation – tended to ramble, ironically like Charlie. But he was surprisingly never exasperated about mindlessly repeated questions about all the sagas through the years – always willing to talk about them. There is no question that he had mellowed.
Just like the Central Bank, I think the Civic Offices have matured significantly since construction. Indeed one would have to question the extent to which the design of these buildings was ever despised – perhaps it was more their association with the destruction of the site than anything. Though their bombastic nature was admittedly not exactly a conciliatory gesture at the time…
If anything, the recent comparatively fussy STW addition (though decent) has only made the original blocks all the more sparse and elegant. They appear cool, crisp and confidently modern. And in spite of their enormously domineering nature, from a distance they are surprisingly humble structures. Being so isolated and detached, they’d remind you of a humble salt and pepper set 🙂
Stephenson’s less noted work is perhaps his most refined – the Dublin Institute building is an elegant solution for an awkward site:
There are many of these wine-bricked office buildings about the inner city, some better than others – presumably Sam’s firm was responsible for a number of them. Another discreet example would be the office opposing Connolly Station’s ramp – possibly by S.G&A too.
Whatever about his at times misguided ambition in the 1960s and 1970s, he made a significant contribution to the betterment of Irish architecture in the 20th century.
Both in terms of projects he was working on, and his wit and charm, he will be sorely missed.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
