Smithfield Plaza continued…..
- This topic has 17 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 23 years, 7 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
-
Obviously the Smithfield topic site is jammed to the seams so continue the banter here folks.Anyway there was a good article in the Irish Times Property section yesterday by Frank Mcdonald – Crusader for Dublin and he seemed in favour of the Smithfield development.Seems that the only thing threatened he said were the Corpo houses themselves.
-
I read that article okay, he’s not a great fan of those corpo brown brick houses, is he? I have to say that personally I’m in favour of the development. They should go further and actually demolish the three blocks of flats between Blackhall Place and Nth King Street, and open up that area for development as well.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
I agree. Is ‘nt great though to see the city developing with stylish and well designed architecture. Temlpe Bar is absolutely fantastic, well done Laura Maghey…. and Smithfield is splendidly emerging. Please don’t hinder it. Well done to Irelands new and design conscious architects. Who remembers when the capital was just one huge derelict site with SFA. Good riddence to such times.
-
Stylish Architecture?
Temple Bar well designed?
Jencks, what on earth are you talking about.
Temple Bar is as correctly stated by you, no longer SFA, but the comprehensive redevelopment of Temple Bar has been erratic to say the least. Low quality buildings, huge super pubs, shoe box apartments.
Sensitivity to the existing urban fabric was considered in the early days of the Temple Bar Properties project, but now it is directionless and standards are droppping. The new millenium bridge has been ill placed, Temple Bar square, a night-time boxing ring and Meeting House Square(the finest of spaces created) closed at night.
Parliment Street is an urban nightmare. The Turks Head, Isoldes Tower & a Spar, add some apartments and traffic, is the image getting any brighter. What an incredibly ugly vista for our newly renovated City Hall. Sunlight Chambers is also subjected to this commercial den of inequity.
Can anyone seriously place these new pubs and package food shops beside some of Dublins finest buildings and the applaud the development.
Temple Bar is speckled with some fine jewels of urban redevelopment, but most of the development is haphazard, directionless and out of context(unfortunately, all previous ‘context’ now no longer exists).
Smithfield, where do I begin, its all too much. JK seems to have Smithfield all tied up, and I agree with alot of what he has said but not all. I htink Ill ignore Smithfield for now, I may just loose control -
The image you paint of Temple Bar conjures up all sorts of nightmares, Jesus what a horrrible place…a no go area day or night; horrendously ugly and unappealing, abismal architecture and totally souless…..O dear! But I’m afraid super pubs,spars and the likes are indeed the trappings of the late 20th century-early 2000AD Ireland, whether one likes it or not.(Besides, the spar is quite subdued in it’s appearance and it meets the demands of the public.) It’s commerce, it’s trade. It’s part of a living city; it’s what made the establishment of the city in the first place a millennium ago. Numerous alternative shops have opened and closed in this area (particularly Parliament Street) due to no demand for their services…. You mention Sunlight Chambers and City Hall been subjected to this commercial den of inequity but you fail to realize that such buildings were always surrounded by a hive of commercial activity throughout their lives in what ever shape or form and which comes and goes.What we see today is to an extent the trappings of today. It seems the ugliness that you talk about really refers to the drunken public it attracts late at night and what can be done with the general public particularly when they are mainly young educated working professionals behaving irresponsibly!
-
All you have said is true. What I want to know, in a bustling expanding city, like Dublin,why are pubs and fast food shops the most sucessful commercial ventures in the temple bar area.
Now we have a glut of pubs concentrated in the one area. This to me does not sound like comprehensive redevelopment.The social ideal for city living, the ‘living above the shop’ has become, ‘living above the pub’.
Do we not educate our young to be more socially and culturally aware. Maybe we don’t and that is where this excessive culture stems from, and the buildings and businesses to feed these desires and vica versa.
The development of Temple Bar was envisaged to bring working professional people within the area to live & socialise. I dont think it was ever the goal to encourage mass drunken migration.
In architecture, we are responsible in creating living urban spaces. Maybe the great unwashed have created the Temple Bar disorder, or maybe, if more sensitivity was given to the positioning of varying businesses and other amenities as opposed to large low quality pubs, Temple Bar as we know it would have a much better spirit.
I am also aware of the beauty of Temple Bar by day. The markets, the shops, the restaurants, ther is a great feeling in the air. Could this same atmosphere be carried through to the evenings, maybe not, maybe its just the nature of Irish culture to turn upon itself when night falls. If that is the case, then we can assume that no matter what way Temple Bar was planned, or any other part of the city, we can be guarenteed drunken disorder and violence.
However, I have a little more faith in people than that. Archaic laws & licencing, combined with god knows how many pubs in one area, will always attract elements of violence. Temple Bar should not have become this concentrated hub of night-life, but it has. -
Temple Bar is so concentrated obviously because it is the only one of it’s kind in the centre of Dublin.It is heavily advertized too as ‘the place’ to visit. Maybe when other quarters of the city are redeveloped ie Smithfield ,Spencer Dock, etc… populations will disperse finding alternative surroundings for entertainment, etc…
-
Just reading down through the chat and banter, I’d like to ask JK how is it that the new millenniun bridge is misplaced. Was it not needed here which is why it was erected in the first place. When the north side of the Liffey is developed here;a walkway is to be incorporated into the new develoment as like the Merchant’s Arch sort of thing (I think) which will lead to the Jervis Centre.Anyway a lot more pedestrian bridges are needed…how about one at Burgh quay/Eden Quay and Arran Quay/Ushers Quay at Smithfield.
-
-
-
Cause its in the wrong place, on the axis of meeting house square would be preferrable.
The bridge itself is fine(elegant etc.) but the position is debatable.
Other bridges along the Liffey is a good idea, unfortunately, we need to remove the heavy traffic from the quays first[This message has been edited by MK (edited 10 October 2000).]
-
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
