The Spike
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afaik the lower sections are to be gently light by floodlights mounted on surrounding buildings …
. . . and uplit from the chamber below, through a narrow gap left between the spire and its bronze base plate (afaik).
That does sound cool, now. After all, the original name was to be the “Monument of Light”, so it figures.
I passed it yesterday evening, and it looked rather odd because the main source of light on it was the Christmas tree, which was all from one direction.
James
Doesn’t anyone see that spending such a lot of money on what I call the junkies needle is wasteful.? The amount DCC has spent on clocks and cranes and this needle is astounding. !!!Think of the great ways that money could be spent. They seem to think the tourists will love this monument ..I think that they would love to see a city with no homeless even more!
I dont know why you feel so isolated there Lugh, there are thousands of people just like you who think that the ‘junkies needle’ is a waste of money.
as someone pointed out earlier, ‘the poor will always be with us’. It was that jesus guy who said that and i think you could do yourself and every other Joe Duffy listener in the country a favour by popping in to the new homeless persons unit on Gardner street with the entire spike budget and dispersing it among everyone in the line. Then walk around the streets and see how many people are sleeping rough! It will be exactly the same as previous nights. People are homeless for a reason, no amount of fast cash will fix the problem as it needs much more attention. We need to set aside consistent funding for problems like this, and even then the problem will not be solved, it is never ending.
However there is absolutely no reason to discontinue art and cultural pursuits as a result. They are also important (to other people obviously) and must also demand funds. We are human beings and need stimulation and challenge not just for rapid monetary gain. It is not merely our purpose to eat, shit and reproduce.
However if you do feel that this is the case, then may god bless you, there will always be a spot here in Fianna Fail for you!
Don’t want to be a whinger but when I first saw the base of the Spike I was a bit disappointed that I could see the joins of the sections……however it it already a great focal point for the city……and it is not that bloody big either….the width and the height …(if it’s to equal the height of the crane that’s there). Sad to see the Cro Magnon Irish public on TV give out about it…………aka the dirty Dubs …… would they want to see Nelson back on his podium…. that great exponent of the once colonial British Empire…….I bet they would ….so as to go with their great support of Man U and Liverpool whilst they buy An Phoblacht on a Friday evening. Mixed up ignorant b******s.
I’m a Dub too, but I know my loyalities and what’s best for Dublin City, the Capital of Ireland.Interesting article in The Observer newspaper over the Christmas detailing the 10 ‘must see’ architectural events of 2003 among themt the unveiling of the Spire in mid-January. Its good to see that we can muster an event of international architectural prominence.
I also recieved a very detailed letter from the O’Connell St Project Manager outlining the schedule for the redevelopment of the street. The project is due to take place over three period: Henry St to Abbey Street in by Dec 2003, Abbey Street to O’Connell Bridge in 2004 and Henry Street to Parnell Street in 2005!! Don’t hold your breaths eh!
Interesting, I was walking down O’Connell Street over Christmas and could hear a guide bus giving commentary on the street. I imagine all those tourists thought they had got their moneys worth looking at the mess it is now!Originally posted by GregF
Don’t want to be a whinger but when I first saw the base of the Spike I was a bit disappointed ……………I’m a Dub too, but I know my loyalities and what’s best for Dublin City, the Capital of Ireland.For crying out loud, calm down.
People for, people against, end of story, Dub, not Dub, so what?
I think you’ve missed the point, by a long shot……and that is, those against the spire are a visually illiterate general public decrying proposals for the city when they know SFA about civic architecture. They’re criticisms are based on what limited art education they got in school, the oppinions of the public media aka the British tabloids and the Herald, and not forgetting the plight of the ‘homeless’ who could have had the 4 million cost funds instead…. so they say.
(Maybe all those concerned about the homeless could take one or two of them home so as to care for them and maybe McCreevy could put aside funding of E40 million anually or more for them. We would then see the publics pseudo christian attitude change.)
What you are saying wreeks of snobbism. By the way, what is ‘Art Education’ ? Sounds like ‘brainwashing’ to me. All I want to say is that people are perfectly entitled to like or dislike what they choose, without being labelled a west Brit by someone who pretends to have superior ‘taste’.
I am in favour of the spike, I saw it last week, it is not as nice as I would have hoped, the fabrication is shoddy, but I am still in favour. What annoys me are people who see it is a crusade against Dubliners, usually, who are supposedly under ‘educated’.
No snobbism here mate….any snobbism that may exist is that held by the great unwashed against an artistic education. Such would appreciate Man U, Eastenders, more etc than a drive to improve their own civic environs. It’s strange how you fail to see such a predominant element of Irish society. As I have always said ask any of them to direct you to the National Gallery of Ireland and they would’nt have a clue where it is………yet they are to have a right to comment on things artistic.
the “snob” word is dangerous (and most forget that it works both ways – up and down).
compare architecture to music if in doubt. would you really want someone passing judgement on a record if they never listened to any music, or only listened to what they heard on the late late show. ideally someone who criticises music should have as much knowledge about it as possible and an understanding of the history involved.
well the same goes for architecture. so the point is this: you wouldn’t trust your deaf granny’s opinion on your favourite band (as it would be ill-informed), and there are people out there who shouldn’t be trusted on architecture.
Originally posted by GregF
No snobbism here mate………….yet they are to have a right to comment on things artistic.have a right? everyone has a right….
Besides if a ‘journalist’ sticks a microphone in someones face on Talbot street and asks: ‘what do you think about…….?’, are they supposed to answer: ‘Sorry i have no right to comment, I never went to art school, and I only got six months into architecture at UCD but i gave it up as I had to earn some money instead.’
FFS
Getting very far off topic here lads, but lets just say there are two generalised opinions, 1) those of closed circle professionals, who generally do not publish outside their own field – e.g. this website is aimed at architects, designers and those with interests about reading in depth about issues from informed people. and 2) the general populace, who by their very nature do not have the search time, consciousness or sometimes, education, to find informed comments or contribute to debates about such matters.
These two sets of people may not overlap and may not communicate … it does not mean one or the other is wrong, stupid, overeducated, or that horrible phrase, unwashed, but what will happen is that over time the monument will either endear itself to the populace or revile them to the point of it being removed.
here here, I apologise if that got a bit strong, and all that I would say to close is that, in my opinion, this idea of a closed cell of professionals who consider the public to be uncapable of appreciation, not everyone can go to art school, does no favours for the discipline and serves to further distance architects and the like from the public domain.
I rest my case.
Ps I am an architect…….
Look…… jesus!…… ..what is the problem ………no body owes any body anything……… much to the ethos that prevails here in Ireland ……..Whether you are rich or poor…..you can still take a trip along to your local public library and enlightened you little mind to the delights of the knowledge that is known to mankind……whether it be Mills and Boon your preference…..or Plato’s Republic ……or Puccini or Tom Jones or Bernini’s Baroque Sculpture, or Zuggerats and Ancient building….or Stir Fry Cookery or Gardening Today………etc, etc ……it is all there for the general public to learn. I made great use of the ‘Libo’ when I was long enough unemployed in the impoverished starving eighties and I am not from an academic background.
I’d like to remind “people” about that music comparison point I jsut amde, since I feel ED209 should re-examine it once more. This has got nothing to do with “rights”. it’s to do with some people understanding/appreciating things better than others.
I’m not an architect (just look around a lot), but I do think I get some of what’s going on. I just came back from London (again) and it’s full of modern things that would never be allowed in Dublin, but which are simply fantastic.
I’m a fan of the spike too (also a bit disappointed at the visibility of the panels, and hope they clean up the scuffs visible on the east side of it), but the notion that the great unwashed shouldn’t comment on a public venture, paid for with their money, is both elitist and misguided.
You don’t have to be a health care manager to comment on the operation of tallaght or monaghan hospital. If your perception was that they were being mismanaged/underfunded you would have no problem with complaining. No-one is going to die from a lapse of judgement on a piece of civic art (unless the engineers get it wrong) but the same criteria apply. It’s a CIVIC project, and joe soap is as much the client as the next man.
Education and appreciation of art/design/architecture is something we have far too little of in this country, but I won’t be signing up to an elitist clique telling everbody else what is good for them, with no recourse. Romania anyone?
I’ve posted this already…..
I have to laugh ……read on the Irish Times today the comments of the Irish natives about the Spike………
Miss Helen Ryan from Edenderry says the funds could have been better spent on the homeless. Someone should tell her that that great mythological figure Jesus once said that the poor will always be with us ….believe me but I have first hand knowledge of the ‘dependancy’ …’everyone owes me’ culture that exist here in Ireland. She recommended something more suitable in it’s place like a statue of Eamonn De Valera one of Ireland’s greats. (ahem!)
Mr John Lawlor says the Spire never impressed him….he says it’s supposed to represent the country in the 21st century but he is not so sure.However……Ms Asta Kelly originally from Germany but living in Ireland for the last 30 years said the project was very daring and would be admired around the world. I think it is fantastic . It is a great piece of art.
Very obvious to see then that the Irish general public are thick when it comes to the visual arts and architecture…..that they are pessimistic and ignorant….. where as the German lady was more optimistic and open minded.
Sums up Irish society and so much for our over rated education system.
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