garethace
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The one significant thing that does bother me slightly about OPW designs, is that sometimes, a great project or renovation goes a bit under-utilised. Because the buildings need some kind of public liability insurance or something to really expand their functionality. I am aware of one very classy job done by the OPW down the country, which is a bit of a nonsense – lovely building, design etc. Lovely job – it just doesn’t do much more than any ‘brochure display unit’ could do in the local newsagents. Get the idea?
I mean, short of ‘promoting’ tourist history/culture at local level – some of their work around the country doesn’t have as much functionality as say a National School or something. But there was no expense at all saved on the job I know, best materials, detailing etc. It typically took like two whole generations to achieve and it is perfect architecturally in many respects. It gets about two visitors a day at peak season and employs one person and a student staring at the wall! The OPW are capable of awesome designs, but finding functionality for those renovation/restoration works, insurance etc, etc is a problem. It is not lack of architectural ability – it is lack of basic strategic business entrepeneur-ship.
On a similar point, what has Temple Bar become? Has its programme expanded, improved or otherwise gained much shape over the years? Is it thriving? Are all those award winning buildings actually hubs of activity. I think like the OPW thing, it is the exact same problem. I have been following the recent debate about giving the LA downtown the ‘cultural architectural treatment’. But there has been a very strong argument to leave it – it is good already. It provides very reasonably priced real-estate for all kinds of small businesses to develop, for low class people to become middle class people by working, producing and selling stuff there is a market for.
What kind of a product is most OPW designed centres selling?
Sounds like quite a deep thinker!
Some interesting papers here about the teaching of music in higher level institutions – a lot of similar problems to that of Architecture I think. Thought provoking anyhow.
http://www.nyu.edu/education/music/mayday/maydaygroup/index.htm
Mind you, the modern suburban homes in the United States aren’t a million miles away from Capability Brown.
Did anyone here watch the programme about English Landscape Gardening last night? Interesting fellow this Brown. One man once said to Brown, “I hope I die before you do Mr. Brown, because I would rather like to see heaven before you have had a chance to improve it!†You either love Brown or hate him. A lot like some modern Architects today, he repeated exactly the same concept no less than 200 times across Britain’s stately homes landscape.
There are two reasons in particular I wanted to highlight this topic.
The first being that so much recently has focussed around Bertie Bowl’s, Lad-ism and instant gratification. Whereas, ‘a space for reading’ is something perhaps less ‘Celebrity-oriented’, since the celebrities do not wear footie gear, but are in the pages of the books. I don’t think a new Library will ever have as much PR glamour as a Bertie Bowl, but its value is difficult to calculate longer term.
The other point I would like to make, is that nowadays in many parts of the country, the shopping centre has become a leisure activity, or just ‘a place to bring the kids’ at weekends. Illac is possibly not a place to allow your loved ones to roam, but the form of retail space has changed radically in the last while. Henry Street is perhaps a much bigger scale retail space now than anything on the south side. That just ‘sort of happened’ overnight, by a few very large projects.
While the south side of the river does perhaps have more ‘culture’, it is just worth stressing the notion, that consumerist hysteria and multi-storey parking shouldn’t be allowed to make the North bank as monotone an environment, as Temple Bar has become from a point of view of bars and clubs.
I don’t know exactly what is the best antidote to this ‘monotone-ism’ of Dublin city at the present. But if you sift around through the monotony, there are still ‘different’ kinds of institutions to be found. I still like the profile of a building like the Pompidou centre. I like the way it was a public institution – not just a box devoted to Argos and Sony centres. It is a while now since Pompidou was built, but seeing as shopping has become so celebrated in modern city living, I just feel that something trully public, educational and aspirational is a very fitting counter-balance.
Brian O’ Hanlon.
I think there are some really nice impressive public spaces for Libraries designed around the world. Didn’t some of the Neo-Classical Architects design good Libraries? I am rather afraid, one would need to travel abroad to experience true excellence in this department. Sure Trinity by ABK/McCullough Mulvin is there, but it isn’t a Public Institution. There is the old Library in Trinity too, which is very ‘Buffy-chic’ indeed. I think a guy called Norberg Schulz spoke a lot about public institutions in modern society as did others like Alto, Kahn etc, etc. Any thoughts are very welcome.
There is another tiny housing development tucked behind Rathmines Church on a small laneway, right nextdoor to a Grafton Architects small corner building.
On a similar theme, has anyone noticed how much activity seems to be happening in little laneways like Strand Street Great over the last couple of years, and it still continues. That street does feature a small Grafton Architects scheme too.
Another small development I like, by Opperman and Assoc I think is down at the bottom of Smithfield in another small laneway. All of these developments really fall under the same heading of small developments. But you have a point, the location of the Harold’s Cross bridge scheme does elevate it more.
I must get a pic from coming from Dolphin’s Barn direction – that is an interesting view to take a pic from too. Post it tomorrow hopefully.
Nice decoration – the building has some nice details, which are captured well in the photos. But ‘No Interior access’ sums it up all too well.
What is the big government departmental granite building oposite Kildare Place? I had forgotten about that building actually.
But what is much more important is that France, Germany and Great Britian etc, all went through a process of rural – to urbanisation – along, long time ago. This is the hard fact that Ireland is having to face nowadays. That it isn’t like the United States with entire vast lands to conquer using urban sprawl – that land is now valuable in this country, where once it was considered almost worthless.
I particularly like the way that the RIAI Housing book divided itself into Urban, Inner Suburban, Outer Suburban and small town. Because that is rougly representative of the environment in Ireland at the present. I have undergone some very intense study of inner and outer suburbia recently myself. And Anthony has made the point in his essays, that suburbia was ignored by the worldwide profession for decades. The Architectural profession just assumed it was a passing trend that would go away.
On the contrary, the opposite has happened and suburbia has become the basic norm built environment of the vast majority. I see the appointment of this man, as maybe a positive step. A step towards architects really dealing with the reality of the built environment as a whole in 2003. Not just selecting parts that they ‘like’. I remember in the mid-nineties in college doing Trinity spatial analysis, and the staff saying that students ignored the parts of Trinity campus they didn’t like. Possibly a true point.
There are many parts of the urban inner core of Dublin city that Architects do ignore too. A bit like Archaelogists can sometimes get upset if somebody else discovers an ancient monument or site, before they do. The profession of Architecture has to short circuit this usual process of selectively looking at the built environment, and work with planners, urbanists, enginneers, conservationists etc. Otherwise it will remain marginalised.
I always think that in first year in Architectural school, learning to see buildings as cardboard boxes and all of that freehand drawing carry-on is very arty and cool. But I think learning to see buildings as buildings – really experiencing them is important too. It should be taught in Architectural schools from the off. ‘Get on yer bike’. It is the only way. I like maps, even maps of suburbia. Yeah, we spend a long time studying other great cities around Europe, but how much effort does the average young architect invest in seeing/getting to know the suburban environments of Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway?
That’s one point of view I guess. I recently did some research about Anthony Reddy myself, since I had heard so much flack being thrown in his direction here.
I accept that some of the movement which happens in the Grafton Street/Baggot Street axis could someday spill down past the side of the Shelbourne and into Kildare Place. It is a space I haven’t thought very much about actually, and is an interesting problem. I must actually go and visit the National Museum and see how that work, before I make any more observations. There is a similar space on Dawson Street that is really doing much either.
Thanks for the Iveagh Gardens name, it is years since I ventured into it. Isn’t there another secluded garden around Kevin Street College too? Just near to Camden Street, off Camden Row?
I just thing that Anthony happens to be dealing with Architecture in a way, which suits what is going on in Dublin at the moment. You simply turn your back to a certain urban space, street or edge and look back after a few months, to find the place has changed out of all recognition. Perhaps the current interesting climate in Dublin city and elsewhere for Architects (It is an interesting time) has swung the balance in Anthony’s favour. A lot of what Anthony talks about is to do with change and flux and massive re-arrangement of urban form and scenes.
Considering they used Anthony Reddy to introduce the RIAI book on Housing, with his essay, rather than someone say, like Shane O’Toole – does that seem to suggest that perhaps Anthony has got some far-reaching vision for the future of how Architecture Profession should progress. I mean, in some broader picture – hell, who knows, this man may not be the be all and end all, as in Tadao Ando or David Chipperfield – not in that mould, but you do not think it would be useful and beneficial to work for a practice like that for a few years?
I take the point, you would prefer to go around practices like that, in the fear of perhaps compromising certain values you might hold dear. What I am saying, is that perhaps Anthony also might have some strong values? Which deserve to be highlighted in the context of the argument generally. I.e. For people who are much too busy to spend any time visiting his web site?
I have not read the above thread properly, but I have recently done some study about Anthony Reddy and I would like to work for him.
I am interested in the ideas coming from America, from people like Andre Duany and the New Urbanists. No, I never actually heard about them in college and it is typically American crap – but there are some things about it I like.
For instance, the Smarth Growth movement or Smart Infill movement is taking off a bit now – born in a country that has real sprawl difficulties – the United States. But then I see the Fluid Spaces studio project by Hennighan Peng and I know they are all based loosely around the basic principles of Smart Infill.
I am wondering has a principle like Smarth Growth or New Urbanism really got some relevance in the much denser, less car/freeway oriented urban environment of Dublin.
