BulldozerGirl

The people who wrote that article about Jews in Ireland might have meant that Dublin was beautiful as it is because it has old buildings. But this is only nice for a visitor, who expects to come and see and old city. For the people themselves who live here, this is not a good thing. They have to live a backward life and have problems with transport and a lot of other things because of this image preservation.

The old visitors from the U.S. or wherever who come to see Ireland regard the place as a village of some sort. You hear people saying, oh Ireland is nice, it’s friendly.. etc. But it’s also not developed. Don’t you care about what is important for the people themselves rather than what visitors will think about the theme of the city. If Dublin doesn’t want to build anything like that, even in a special section outside the current city, then let Cork or Galway or anywhere else build many highrises, because there’s no way the entire country can stay flat and village-like.

Blain – I don’t really know what you mean by “cardboard box solution”, I’m a bit thick in the head 🙁

I never attempted to enter TGI Friday’s to see if it’s really closed, but it appears so, because the windows and doors are painted white and covered with newspapers. Is the decor of the entrance like that?

Sorry, I don’t have access to a bulldozer (only in my dreams 😉 ). I don’t know which building is IFSC.

How old are the people who are in control of what buildings go up in Dublin? Are they very old people, like 70+? I heard that most conservative people have haemmorrhoids 😀

Maybe some of the people who want high-rise buildings should start using better methods of getting their point across to the people in charge, like for example.. offer money :rolleyes:

Oh, well – I know zero about construction, but still, I think 3 years to fix a building is too long, especially if the construction is taking half of the street and it’s in the city centre.

StephenC – I am on Planet Ireland :p

Another annoying thing about a lot of buildings here is that the rooms are separated by wood (excuse my poor architectural vocabulary). And I think the floor is wood also. Sounds are transmitted easily and you can hear footsteps from above. The size of everything is very small also.

Why don’t they permit the construction of residential and office buildings that are at least 20 storeys? The city is spreading out and it’s flat. It also doesn’t help that the infrastructure is so bad and public transport isn’t good enough. How are people expected to reach their place of work from outside the city? Since the city centre is so small anyway, they should build high-rise buildings and provide accomodation for people nearby until they figure out a solution for this metro thing.

Why shouldn’t Dublin have skyscrapers? Will they hide something which is short and beautiful? Why do they want to have a Georgian style, or whatever it is they call it, throughout the city? They can have sections like that and another section with modern structures. The entire city doesn’t have to have one theme. And anyway, not all buildings have Georgian style. There are some nasty-looking 70’s and 80’s style office buildings that are brown and try to look modern but their design has expired. I like the new 02 building in Upper Baggot – but maybe its style will expire after a couple of decades as well. So, since they have these short “modern” buildings popping up in places like Fitzwilliam Square and wherever, why don’t they go ahead and build taller ones?

And we need more restaurants! There is no place to eat – the choice is limited and the restaurants are also too small, like the houses, and they’re too crowded. There is more demand than supply – for everything in the city. 🙁

Hmm.. I’m not too sure joining a freemason lodge is a good idea, but thanks for the recommendation :p

About 2 months ago I was stopped by some guy in Lower Baggot, he asked if I had heard of the “Harvest Moon Center”. I said I did, they do some sort of yoga thing. Then he said, that’s right, but now they have a “special offer” for floating massages, and they will perform a “mass massage” with ten men and ten women, and he will be one of the masseurs. Then he said: “if you know what I mean” 😮

As for the architecture in Dublin, I haven’t noticed any particular building that caught my eye. But in general, it’s “nice” (ran out of adjectives), but can be depressing sometimes (or many times 🙁 ). I like seeing plants (do you call them plants?) growing on buildings. It looks like the building is rotting. There are many buildings that are grey – did they not paint them or did they paint them grey? At least many of the shops have very bright coloured signs – I like that. And also the coloured doors of houses.

Some streets look respectable, like Leeson or some parts in Ballsbridge, but there are places where the buildings on both sides of the street look like they were built quickly after a war – sort of like a mass housing project with all the houses the same – flat and brown. Having clouds and rain all the time isn’t very flattering for them.

I like most of the old buildings, like Trinity College.. etc. But I feel if I go a few kilometres out of the city centre radius, I see very bad buildings and areas that look like they’re full of criminals and trash. There is only a very limited upclass area.

I also think there are many “two-faced” buildings, that try to look good on the side facing the street and are rubbish from behind. An example is the Jury’s Montrose hotel which is supposedly 3 star – it’s normal from the front but the back of the building isn’t even painted and you can see all the pipes running on it exposed. I just wonder what their kitchen is like if the building itself is externally dirty from behind :confused:

Hmm.. what else.. yes, why are the pavements and roads full of cracks and the colour changes suddenly? You can also spot footprints in the cement from careless workers.

That’s what I have to say for now. I have a nice view of Blackrock and the sea from my apartment – but I haven’t got my camera at the moment. Maybe I will post pictures of nice and ugly things later if this forum allows pics 🙂

Thanks for reading my silly comments.