garethace
Forum Replies Created
- Posts
It is a very scary but real, real, real world out their, of commerce, banking and trading services. Especially when you read something like this post:
Outsourcing, the big issue in States.
Click: Anyhow, if you care to wander over to the Americas now, a post which got an interesting response, about Jobs, outsourcing, presidential elections etc, etc, etc.
Just avoid the ‘Norm’ Chomsky bit . . 🙂
Good post here:
Well i think one of the reasons this is big news during this election is because the economy has come back strong but the jobs are not coming with it. Common scapegoat is outsourcing. I cant say it isnt a factor but I cant imagine we have shipped off 10 million jobs in 3 years. Not impossible I suppose but I cant imagine it.
If the jobs start to come around then this issue will be moot.
Dunno what economics is about, but this paragraph gives you some idea, how global the whole thing really has become.
China and Japan are holding the price of the $ up with tons of buying of the $ and in the case of china, pinning the currency to the $. China’s banking system is not yet good enough to handle a floating currency. Regardless, China is growing too fast right now to be sustained. Within a few years they will be forced to change their exchange rate with the $ one way or another.
The biggest problems in DLR right now are far, far away from Dun Laoghaire itself, in a place they helped to create called Sandyford. 🙂 They have gone on such a mad rush to build everything out there, that I am unsurprised how little there is now left to spread around sites like Carlisle Pier, except for ‘young bachelor stud’ porsche driving owner apartments.
Yes, Dun Laoghaire may be a nice place to ‘live’ etc, and Sandyford might be a cool place to work for a high tech company. But it is this zoning and separation of functions into distinct areas, which makes modern cities so terrible I think. Yeah, you might eventually be able to walk up the SOM building in Carlisle Pier, but I would much rather be able to walk around a Sandyford, or someplace, without having to be constantly monitored with security cameras and dudes with uniforms. It is a strange new world we are making for ourselves.
Okay. Good observation, to look at what is going on in the whole general area. Still that Group 91 Poddle Bridge and Jervis Street route, was about ‘that whole general area’ too. This DCC bridge and route it has now burrowed through a pile of developer’s rubbish is a sad, sad compromise – where does that little alley lead to anyway? How does it improve pedestrian flow, by landing you straight outside a big blank wall elevation of the Jervis Centre?
I mean, if the Poddle bridge location, had been used instead for a new pedestrian bridge, it would have brought in the meeting house square in Temple Bar, and the whole of Jervis St leading up as far as Parnell st, etc into the picture of people movement in Dublin city centre. Pull out that OS map and have a look if you don’t believe me.
The new pedestrian bridge which DCC done, in defiance of Group 91 and Temple Bar properties is just in a bad location whichever way you look at it.
I hate, that ‘zig-zag’ maneuvre you have to make, having crossed the new ped bridge, to get onto the Jervis St, direct route up as far as Henry St, Parnell st. That count-down clock is supposed to be so helpful, but It is really just a waste of money building that new pedestrian bridge where they built it.
Just a very, very sad example of DCC trying to ascert whatever authority they think they have, over the Temple Bar thing, which they weren’t part of.
The fact that DCC burrowed through a developer scheme, to make some gesture towards the urban theme, doesn’t change one thing I am sorry. And what is going on over in Capel St, is just another typical Archiseek, lets do aesthetic ping-pong.
So how many times, is this now, I have pointed out DCC lack of any clue in anything to do with open space or pedestrian movement?
Maybe a slate tower like building, on the pier?
http://www.cgarchitect.com/gallery/image_spotlight.asp?galleryID=18730
In contrast to the earlier very transparent glass one that I earlier linked. The trouble with the Libeskind scheme or any of the entries, is all the finishes and materials etc are the same.
I am worried the end result could be something very bland.
Just something I found about Liffey Board walks:
I guess you could call these kinds of projects, high return projects. I dunno what the Spire could be called though.
Bridges and boardwalks thread.
CITY: Dublin (Ireland)
POPULATION: 1.103.400
DEVELOPER: Dublin City Council – City Architects Division
AUTHORS: McGarry Ni Eanaigh Architects, Architects, Michael McGarry, Slobhán Nà Éanaigh
PARTICIPANTS: Muir Associates
PROJECT BEGUN: 1997
START OF WORK: 1999
END OF WORK: 2000
SURFACE AREA: 1.950 m²
COST: 3.000.000 €
CONSTRUCTION COMPANY: Pierse ContractingThe starting point of the present project was the difficulty of making a central thoroughfare parallel to the river and with heavy traffic compatible with the flow of pedestrians who circulated with serious problems due to the high degree of congestion.
The new boardwalk not only solves the previously unresolved conflict between pedestrians and vehicles but has also generated a completely new urban experience in its riverside setting. From a congested thoroughfare, uncomfortable for pedestrians and indifferent to the river, it has gained a space that not only acts as a transit area, but also as an avenue and terrace-square open to the river. A project with a simple, clear concept and appropriate implementation has obtained a pleasant, versatile space for walking and resting, which has enhanced the city experience to an extraordinary degree.
Instead of simply widening the existing pavements along the avenue parallel to the river, the project opted for hanging a light structure over the water to segregate the circulation of pedestrians from the traffic along the road. And so pedestrians can choose one route or the other, but they have the chance to escape the cars and walk in peace, enjoying a totally new relation with the river.
The formal concept of the new boardwalk fully respects the integrity of the old wall of the quay from which it hangs, heightening its nature as a space won back for people beside the river. The correct sizing of the new projecting boardwalk, the wooden benches all along the old wall, the strategic situation of the small kiosks selling hot drinks and the good fortune of the river facade facing south have made it far more than a mere route; it is a versatile space with facilities that make transit compatible with rest by bringing both to a river that thus acquires observers and enthusiasts. The existence of the extended bench, the different levels and the ramps, the viewpoints and the kiosks, favours the diversity of uses on this new pedestrian way, which has sometimes acted as a setting for events organised right by the river. The good connections with the nearby bridges ensure continuity for the itineraries and is also crucial for their use and function, improving the pedestrian routes of the immediate surroundings.
The structural system adopted emphasises the lightness of the boardwalk without any flashy technology and has made it possible to incorporate the technical installations underneath it in a dialogue with the heaviness of the old stone wall, which has been conserved virtually intact. The use of materials such as wood, apart from having a deep relation with the water, brings out the pleasant character of a new avenue gained with respect and creativity for the city.
The determination to make the pedestrian route and general walking conditions better and more amenable along more than half a kilometre to the old Dublin quays and to take advantage of the enormous visual potential of the river for the quality of the city centre are the starting points of the project.
really nice small logo/lettering design here at bottom middle:
http://www.bauton.com/home.html
This logo animation, is a bit in one’s face to say the very least, wait until the end of the flash anim.
One I actually quite like this as an arch site formula:
Whacky?
Anyone care to do the Group 91 bridge anecdote here? I am tired of typing. 🙂
Anyhow, I will just cross link this here:
https://archiseek.com/content/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2744
Carlisle Pier thread.
Some nice house designs, perhaps different climate to here, but still, good examples of use of space etc, etc. Projects> Residentail.
http://www.bauton.com/home.html
Fantastic online resource.
Hmmmm,
http://www.boxstudio.com/projects/offices/sld022.htm
Libeskind had something like this at the top of his Dispora museum that could have been scraped to be honest.
http://www.boxstudio.com/projects/offices/sld064.htm
Would it work on Carlisle Pier? Dunno. I guess the opera/theatre brief can be a bit too dead in fairness, especially here in Ireland. Funnyly enough, none of the scheme has long narrow medieval pedestrian proportions of space like these ones:
http://www.boxstudio.com/projects/offices/sld067.htm
I am thinking of schemes by Bernard Tschumi, which sort of established a high degree of public accessibility, like the SOM project does, but without facing the wind and all the elements head on.
Future of Carlisle Pier? 🙂
The more I think about this competition now, and as I said, one needs to reflect a fair bit on something of this scale and significance – the more I am reminded of good public buildings, where the outdoor spaces, and internal organisation of the cultural exhibition spaces, or whatever, are brought into one. A building I have in mind here, is the Frankfurt one, by Richard Meier, where the park and building have a relationship. I just didn’t see anything in the entries presentations, which had that – apart from maybe the SOM entry. But I still think the image of the Spanish gallery above, could work well out there – as retail or cultural.
Libeskind, has a hotel on his pier entry:
https://archiseek.com/content/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2744&pagenumber=2
Maybe he should find a good roundabout so? 🙂
But just look at that for a mess of a hotel design, seriously, for the outskirts of a city? Just because it has a roundabout? Bewleys etc, etc. Lynch’s hotel beside Raheen roundabout Limerick, Red Cow etc, etc.
If the Libeskind entry was developed by a number of architects, with different styles perhaps and decent briefs.
Click: I would like to see a real public design as part of the Libeskind overall masterplan. But also, I think the scale of the narrow streets in the H/P scheme was about right too – much narrower than the boulevards suggested by the Libeskind project, making it go well outside the ‘red line’ too.
http://www.cgarchitect.com/gallery/image_spotlight.asp?galleryID=14209
That is a very simple notion about using a pier, but you get the impression that it could be much more enjoyable for the public as an amenity.
Comments?
It goes way beyond sucking any balls at this stage in Ireland Paul, it passed that stage back around 1999/00 as I recall correctly. Think of dentists when they qualify usually go to some other country for a while and work at very cheap rates in order to ‘get practice’. (I.e. Get all the real baddies out of their system) While some poor guy over in unemployment England is left holding his jaw for the rest of his life. This is an example of that in architecture.
The boss architects in this country should begin realising this, and take their heads out of their BMW catalogues and golfing magazines long enough, just to see what their latest recruit from Eastern Europe is doing with his/her cracked copy of 3DS MAX. :)And perhaps give a job to someone like myself, who cannot afford to make these kinds of balls jobs in the same country that I wish to live/work in.
Well so much for the idea of buying a good digital camera to record my impressions of what I experience in architecture! Even though they can be useful for some kind of record, or places abroad etc, etc.
Ya know what guys, I am going to level with you all straight up here – and admit, that I have loads more brushing up to do on my discursive abilities and skills, compared to much of the fine discussion and debaters here at Archiseek. It has always been my biggest single reason for failure at various endeavours related to architecture. So good discursive abilities are key to sucess in most lines of work I think.
However, I think I have a pretty keen eye when it comes to smelling a real turkey in real world architecture, and you cannot actually tell from the above images what I am talking about. In some odd way, those photographs actually make the thing look good! Yet, when I walk around and through that area of town, I know deep down the thing is a complete ‘kick for touch’ in terms of architectural design. I have spoken here in support of the new rendering technologies available to architects – which produce photographic images.
But whoever, doesn’t believe me should actually go and visit this place in question. It is a clear example of where the developer produced maybe a couple of nice 3DS VIZ images, that looked okay, and decided well let’s just do it. And that is the whole point, looking at those images, the development looks fine. But in reality, you just know it isn’t, strange. So people don’t judge how bad the development really is, just by those photographs – rather go and experience it and report back please.
