The Spike

What do you know- perhaps government is transparent afterall- found the environmental impact report….

http://www.environ.ie/press/OConnellSt.html

Interesting:
Irish Aviation Authority: “In the light of the above measures we do not see the design height as a danger to aviation.” The Irish Aviation Authority submission states that their requirements have already been incorporated into the specification and design of the proposed development.

Maybe Ritchie had no say…
“a more reflective surface shall be created over the lower 10 metres of the spire according to an artist’s design, as suggested in paragraph 3.2.21 of the EIS, to enhance close up views of the proposed monument;”

As requested….

Does the Spire miss the point after a change to the design?

The newly-lit Spire of Dublin does not quite deliver all that was promised in 1998, writes Frank McDonald, Environment Editor.

What’s the point? That was a common reaction to Dublin’s Spire when a model of the soaring stainless steel needle for O’Connell Street was first unveiled in November 1998. Some people still hold this view today, six months after it was finally erected.

But the real question about the Spire ought to be “Where’s the point?” Because it was meant to taper to a pinnacle of cast optical glass, half-a-metre high, above 12 metres of perforated stainless steel through which light would be diffused from an uplighter within the structure.

As depicted at the time, this beacon was to emit a soft light, like the halo of a candle flame. Instead, not only is the light harshly white, but the Spire is topped by an even brighter aircraft warning light, held in place by a clasp above the tapering cone and separated from it. In other words, it does not come to a point at all. Yet the environmental impact statement (EIS) on the project, published in June 2000, clearly states: “The top 0.5 metres of the monument will be made of cast optical glass”, faceted to “make the tip refract and reflect sunlight.” Furthermore, the EIS stated baldly that “there will be no aircraft warning light fixed to the top of the monument”, as the architect – Mr Ian Ritchie – had “opted for the more sensitive specification of an apex constantly illuminated by luminaries within” as well as external floodlighting.

“This approach has been approved by the Irish Aviation Authority”, it said.

Yet the authority had stated in 1998, when Mr Ritchie’s scheme was short-listed in the design competition, that it did not see the need for an aircraft warning system, but subsequently changed its mind.

A spokeswoman said yesterday that, under 1994 regulations, anything higher than 90 metres “constitutes an obstacle to aviation and requires to be lit”. But she added that the authority had accepted the architectural lighting solution and did not insist on a separate light on top.

Despite the fact that O’Connell Street is not on any known flight path, the authority maintains that some aviation warning system is needed in the interest of safety – if only to protect the Garda helicopter, which has been particularly active in the city centre at night-time in recent weeks.

However, the bulge of the clasp holding the white aircraft warning light is clearly visible during daylight hours. At night, it becomes invisible, but the fact that it is physically separated from the architectural lighting within makes what was meant to be a pointed pinnacle look disjointed.

Instead of an internal light projecting its beam upwards to be diffused through some 11,300 perforations near the top, a much more powerful lighting rig has been installed within the perforated section of the spire. This would account for the harshness of the light it emits.

Mr Jim Barrett, the city architect, said yesterday that the original lighting scheme didn’t work and had to be redesigned, though he agreed that the aircraft warning light on top is “too strong”. But he added that there was a control mechanism to regulate the intensity of the lighting.

The upper part of the spire, above the glossier section near ground level, also looks somewhat weather-beaten after just six months.

This rather undermines early claims that the stainless steel would be “self-cleaning” and suggests that it will need to be cleaned every so often.

But though duller than it looked last January, the spire can still become a dazzling “blade of light” on sunny days, as Mr Tim Brick, deputy city engineer, observed yesterday.

It had also achieved its primary objective of making a powerful urban design statement in O’Connell Street.

I think Frank MacDonald’s piece is very restrained.
Fact is, with a piece as minimalist as the Spike, the quality of the finish and attention to detail are everything. In this respect, we didn’t get what we were promised.
If the original artwork had shown a streaky, dirty pole with a tacky wrapping-paper design on the base, clearly visible joins all the way up, a completely unecessary ‘avaiation’ light 50 metres off the ground, a harsh white light-bulb effect on top, and no external floodlighting, would it have been built?
The fact that it sometimes look alright when the sun shines the right way isn’t good enough for a gigantic monument in the middle of our main street!
Get out the mops and buckets, tell the Irish Aviation Authority to stick their ‘safety’ lights and bring Ian Ritchie in front of a Tribunal, I say…

I think it now fulfils one of its main criteria in that it’s clearly visible from miles around at night. That in itself is worthwhile. I don’t agree about the aviation light half way – i think it actually looks quite nice.

I am disapointed. The design can be debated for years, but the engineering is poor.

The ridges are unquestionably a bad idea – again, an idealistic idea rather than a practical one. Anyone who has even been on O’Connell St. would know that such ridges would become dirt trays almost immediately. It amazes me the lack of common sense used in most of the things around Dublin – like the green dial of the Time in the Slime.

the aviation light seems to be brighter too …

I agree the rendering in FMcD’s Construction of Dublin had a sort of 1940’s floodlit charm.

I doubt that it would be difficult to create once the lighting units were housed securely.

What leaked memos and where can they be read? Also was there a news item on eircom.net yesterday regarding the instability of the spire in high winds?