BulldozerGirl
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Originally posted by Gar
Most of the new RTE dramas etc., or programmes that try to portray Dublin as a modern and happening city always seem to show those ‘pointy hat’ buildings on George’s Quay. Pity there’s feck all else to show.LOL!
I was trying to get a few photos of the “modern” side of Dublin a few days ago, and I didn’t know what to take a photo of, except for the Georges Quay offices and about 4 or 5 other buildings.
I thought I would compile a list of what I think are the prettiest buildings in Dublin, but it would take time to take a photo of all.
So it’s best if I jump the list and go straight to my favourite building in the city: The City of Dublin Royal Hospital on Upper Baggot St. 🙂
The best thing about it is the colour. It’s so bright it looks like something out of a cartoon 😀
I never really liked this building in real life, but it looks good in the photo.
Is this the HQ of Bank of Ireland? 😮 I always used to call it “the bank that takes commission” because they always take commission from me when other branches don’t :confused:
I have read in another thread that Bank of Ireland has some of the best buildings in Dublin – I agree with that, but I don’t agree that the College Green branch (is that what it’s called?) is the best. I have always liked the branch on Lower/Upper Leeson St near the canal.
shaun – hmm.. it seems you have transformed this into a Dublin-Dubai comparative thread.
Yes, I have noticed the piers. Here is a satellite picture of the Jebel Ali port in Dubai which was built about 40 years ago. It is the only man-made port that is visible from space.
Dubai was a small fishing village, but it did not have goat-herding as the major activity, nor did it grow or export figs. It has never even had any considerable amount of oil, and whatever it had is almost finished now. The income has always mainly been from trade, and now, trade and tourism. The UAE is among the top ranks of oil exporting countries because Abu Dhabi is a major producer.
Dubai is a very new city, but its people still stick to their local traditions. For a certain time in history, we were all part of the same country: the British Empire :p
I thought I’d mention that many cities had great buildings and civilizations thousands of years ago, when other cities didn’t even exist, but today, most of these cities are part of 3rd world countries. So what does that say about taking pride in the glorious past? 😉
Originally posted by anto
and a new shopping centre for Dun Laoghaire where the old Shell Garage was, between the Pavillion and Gerges Street Shopping centre has been given the go aheadOoh.. new shopping mall. I think I also saw a construction board for a new mall somewhere that looks like the area where this Grand Canal Basin thing is, or maybe I was imagining things.
Can somebody please list all existing malls and shopping areas in the city and all upcoming ones?
I agree with anto, that building in the picture looks like Liberty Hall somewhat. I rarely see Liberty Hall in close up, but I think I saw several windows smashed in, or the window frames were rusty and broken. It looks deserted.
Some pics taken on my way back from Beaumont Hospital.
A washline building with strange colour combination near Beaumont Rd. I wonder how clothes are expected to dry in this weather. Perhaps all buildings should have one or two large tumble dryers as a compulsory thing, and people should be fined for hanging things in the balcony (such laws have been enforced in some other countries).
An old building on Amiens St (I don’t know what it is). I like grey buildings for some reason, or cream-coloured or red – anything but brown 🙂
The sun was too bright, but here’s the “AIB” building on Amiens St. (forgot the proper name for it which Diaspora mentioned). I think it looks great next to that old grey one. This is one of my favourite streets (the other side of it is quite disorganized though).
This is one of the prettiest modern buildings in Dublin. Don’t you think if there were more of these spread about or collected in one place that it would be a much nicer place?
The above buildings remind me of these three in Sharjah, UAE:
OK, not too similar, but close enough.
Oh, and I thought I’d tell you, asdasd, that if you liked Muscat, Oman then you would love Yemen. They’re of the same standard somewhat, but there’s a risk of getting kidnapped in Yemen (actually tourism companies make a deal with mountain bedouins to kidnap people for a short time – some people like those sorts of “adventures” 😎 ). I ought to warn you though that Oman and Yemen, along with Morocco, are the world’s hub for black magic. If you are a practising Christian, I suggest you guard yourself well 😀
Btw, wouldn’t a “soggy Los Angeles” be Seattle?Graham Hickey – Dublin has many wonderful buildings, especially Georgian ones, but a lot of the same thing gets a bit boring. And when I say “old” I sometimes mean 1970’s buildings, and not Georgians.
Each city has its own style, and Dublin certainly shouldn’t change its current style, but what I’m saying is that they can start building more shopping areas, or highrises outside of the city. The “soul” of the city isn’t going to die, like asdasd said.
It doesn’t really suit Dublin to have a hotel with those kinds of rooms like Dubai, but it would be nice to have some Georgian-style thing. I think the Shelbourne would have that. I ought to check it out. I was thinking why prices for everything are so high here (tax :rolleyes: ). What are other reasons? I buy HP print cartridge (made in Ireland) here for 40 euro; the same made in Ireland cartridge in Dubai is 22 euro :confused:
Anyway, I was in Dun Laoghaire today, and here is a pic of Lower George’s St.
It’s a very friendly place, and I love some of the pyjama-coloured pink, yellow and blue houses in the area.
The Dun Laoghaire Town Hall:
The harbour:
This place is cool, and it will be even cooler after they change the harbour
🙂Just to add some pictures to this thread – an illustration for what I said in the previous post:
Fitzwilliam Hotel, Dublin – ~380 euro double room with a view of Stephen’s Green park (with air conditioner, fax as facilities).
Burj Al Arab Hotel, Dubai – ~380 euro double room with a view of the sea.
Bathroom, Fitzwilliam:
Bathroom, Burj Al Arab:
Why should anyone pay for less?
asdasd – I didn’t say you should build another Dubai in Dublin. I didn’t mention any particular city for you to compare it to. I also didn’t say old buildings should be destroyed. They can be left as they are, but there doesn’t seem to be any plans on building new ones anywhere else in the city or even outside the city. There are very few plans. Also why do you call a building that is made of steel and glass a “monstrosity”? It depends on what the design is like and the location.
You can’t really compare Dublin to Rome. If you mean there are old buildings, yes there are old buildings, but certainly not the same as Rome. As for Dubai, it never had any “classic” buildings to start with (with the exception of the Bastakiyya and some late 18th century palace). But yes, they did the right thing in demolishing 70’s or 80’s buildings that were past their expiration date to keep things clean and safe.
Speaking of safety, although Dublin is a small city and quite safe compared to other places, the northside is still a dreadful place to be in alone. I know I’m in a dangerous neighbourhood when I see clothes hanging on a balcony washline. It seems that there are a LOT of such areas in the city. Is half of Dublin full of washline buildings?
And at least, if no one wants to build something new, they should maintain old buildings, especially their interior. I have visited some friends living in an apartment block just off Fitzwilliam Square, and the furniture and carpet haven’t been changed since 1985. It’s very unhealthy to have such an old carpet, and the price they ask for, although cheap, is still a lot for what they offer. The hotels also have very poor service and rooms. I once stayed at the Fitzwilliam Hotel, and they gave me a very basic room and charged around 380 euro per night for it. For the same price elsewhere you would have had a fancier room with more facilities in the hotel. There is also a lack of fine places to eat at. It might seem trivial, but it’s a very important thing for a city – especially since it is the biggest in the country. Shopping gets a 3 out of 10 (an increase from 2 after Roches expanded).
What most foreigners from all nationalities say about Dublin in general is that it’s expensive, old (in a bad way more than good), has terrible infrastructure, and has a shortage in everything (taxis, buses, shops, houses.. etc). The supply can’t catch up with the demand and isn’t even planning on catching up. Well, there’s my foreign 2 cents on the subject. Oh, and of course, many foreigners ask why they made the spike and where all the tax money is disappearing.
phil – I was asking if this house you’re talking about is yellow in colour.
shaun – We’re not comparing Dublin to any particular city. All we’re asking for is standard stuff for any major city. 😉
This thread is running out of pics.. but I had a question. Is it true that the small bit of pavement surrounding the spike will have tables and chairs for an outdoor cafe? Are the people going to sit in the middle of the road with cars and trams on both sides plus pedestrians crossing? 😮
You know what would have been a great example of some stupid thing like that? The small “fountain” that was between Dunnes Stores St Stephen’s Green and Eircom for a short while. It was just a pipe sticking out of the ground and spilled water everywhere. It was horrible to look at, especially when it rained. I’m glad it was removed, but it shows how some silly things can actually be done because of the presence of people without taste in certain places.
OK.. sorry if I make no sense, it’s late and I drank a lot of milk.
phil – I am trying to say I find the city to be old, brown and depressing. Any new-looking building makes me feel better. Graham Hickey’s pic sums up what Dublin looks like in general:
Coming up next time hopefully.. cracked sidewalks.
Really I think any new building in the city is a welcome sight. It freshens the rotten place up a bit. Georgian buildings are depressing, especially brown ones. I don’t have any pics of a typical nasty all-brown street right now because it was raining today and I couldn’t get any.
As for public transport and health, I have noticed that the back seats of Dublin buses usually smell of urine and are hot when you sit on them. It seems that drunk people prefer a place where the driver can’t see them.
I am scared of driving on the roads here because they’re so narrow, bumpy, and there are too many double decker buses – there is no way a sane person (most women are sane) would want to cycle on these roads. And anto is right; it’s not good for the hair, and you can’t carry shopping bags on it, so why bother?
I don’t think children should be allowed to use public buses, because I’ve seen many who do, and they only take up all the seats in the bus and ruin everything for non-school passengers. The danger posed for school children who walk is greatly exaggerated. The SAVI report said that the majority of child abuse is from relatives of the child, not from strangers. How far are the schools from home anyway? They should force them all to use a school bus.
Anyway, here’s a pic of Deansgrange business park:
OK, I know it’s a bit boring, but it’s the only worthwhile thing I saw on my short trip. It’s not really that special but the location is fantastic. The people there have a wonderful view. It’s a classier place than those silly Georgian building offices in Leeson or wherever else in Dublin, who think they’re all that. I don’t like these old brown buildings which make the whole city look the same.
phil – I was looking for the Art Deco house today; it disappeared!
garethace – I never understand what you say.
Paul Clerkin – Congrats on the new wider forum layout. We will save many pages.
Originally posted by d_d_dallas
Dublin has alot more overground electricity than you’d think – this isn’t the UK.Yeah, I’ve seen a lot of overground electricity. Look at this pic of Woodbine Road:
This wouldn’t be so bad if it was a rural village on the West coast, but for a residential area in the capital city – it’s a sign that there is corruption somewhere….
I thought I was going to be able to go out a lot this Easter vacation, but I couldn’t after I nearly killed my sis with wrong medication..
Anyway, I couldn’t stray far from home due to the circumstances, but here’s what I think is a nice shot of the Radisson SAS hotel.
I think it’s gorgeous.
Let them build houses.. let them build anything. There is a lack of everything. People need a place to live. Only an overabundance of houses and apartments will finally make these ridiculously high prices for 3rd class accomodation go down.
It’s not like you’re in a desert. There will never be lack of green spaces. Any empty patch will be green.
I have seen electricity or telephone wires (I dunno what they are really) on poles in the city in several places. I thought such sights were usually reserved for intercity highways or rural areas. What are these cables and why are they not running underground or wherever they should be?
Here is a pic of Kildare street (I think that’s the right name), where many supposedly high-class buildings are, and yet there are some cables running from one side of the street to the other. It’s very ugly.
Are the people in those buildings using plastic cup phones to communicate?
phil, I think I know which house you’re talking about. Is it the yellow one?
The weather hasn’t really helped the past few days, and I didn’t have much time to take pics, but here are some from last week.
View of residential area from my living room (I don’t know the names of communities). Sometimes I see smoke coming out of their chimneys, and I wonder how many chimneys big mansions with many fireplaces have. I don’t think I recall spotting a lot of chimneys on them. Are these houses made of wood?
The Heineken building in the city centre. I think if this building wasn’t there, the area would look very backward for a city centre. I consider it a good example, shaun.
Btw, I put in these pics from last week to try to stop garethace from blabbering and turning this into a 52 page thread with text and few pictures :p I think the major landmark for Stillorgan Road is the RTE tower, and an ugly white pedestrian bridge.
I love the AIB buildings on Amiens street or whatever it’s called. I’m sure Archiseek already has a picture of them but the administrator will ban me if I display pics from his server and waste bandwidth.
Sue – I have the right to think and say that the spike is meaningless just as you have the right to think and say that I shouldn’t think and say the spike is meaningless.
Graham Hickey – I agree that the bottom part of the spike looks very bad. When I first saw it I thought it was damaged – then I thought it might be an engraving sort of thing of the map of the world or something, but I saw it was just a strange-looking thing.
