GrahamH
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Ah yes, look who all come crawling back (the entire general public). Not a single dissenting voice on Liveline, on News soundbytes, in the papers, on the Street… You have to love this country.
Walking up the central median 20 minutes after it’s completion, what a sight. I felt such a welling of pride and optimisim about the City, and the Country overall, The Spire is everything, everything, I expected, and more. I have’nt felt so excited about Dublin & it’s future for so long and its truly wonderful (albeit a niave rush to the head)
If we can build like this in the future, stimulate similar debate, use quality designs and quality materials, in an inventive an exciting way, whilst respecting, complimenting and adding to our historic city, we will be the envy of Europe.
Long may this public interest in our built surroundings continue!!!
(at least till tomorrow)Of course, sorry, they only leased it to Fingal. I forgot it was a speculative development. Presumably the hotel connection is linked to the proposed hotel.
At last! RTE’s environment correspondent Paul Cunningham has got his act together. Sweeping pompous journalistic attitudes to one side, he openly expressed his opinion of the Spire at 7.10 this morning on Morning Ireland. In the first positive comments of the scupture expressed on RTE Television & Radio, he described the wonderful play of light on the steel at different times of day, arguably the most charming, yet most neglected aspect of the Spire, also mentioning it’s radical, yet elegant design and the spectacular impact it has on the Street.
With between 400,000 – 500,000 people listening, it can only have had a positive effect on public opinion. Keep it up Paul!(RTE is keeping an OB unit on the Street all day so coverage should improve, as it appears to have done over the past 48 hours)
One of the best views of the Spire is from outside Easons looking north (towards it). It’s starkly modern, sleek and unadorned profile contrasts spectacularly with the exquiste detailed frieze and fluted columns of the GPO, the overall vertical emphasis being particularly stunning, esp in the dazzling sunshine, which highlights the stone relief.
My secret shame, I was watching Questions & Answers last night, and suffice to say when the issue of the Spire arose, the usual hacks spun out the usual crap. Out of the 5 panelists & a 60 person audience, the grand total of 1 proclaimed to be in favour of the project. Comments included the usual:
“We could fund 40 hospital beds with 4 million”
“Disgraceful expenditure of public funds when people are homeless in the streets”
“At a time of cutbacks, to be spending this amount…”
“It dosn’t even connect with the people with a basic viewing platform”
And blah blah blah blah blah.
The only opposing view came from presenter John Bowman!, who suggested that we sell all the paintings in the National Gallery and spend the funds on the Health Service, at which point everyone became strangely meek…..
At least the Fingal Bldg is in public ownership, and so hopfully things will happen more swiftly.
That picture is actually in Pat Liddy’s ‘Dublin a Celebration’ book, my camera is under repair at the minute, I’ll try scanning it once I get the book.I’m hoping that I will have left the city with it half finished, and to return in the morning with it fully assembled, reaching for the skies. Hoping being the key word….
I only found out recently that the Fingal Office bldg is to be ripped apart, it’s concrete shell to be converted to a hotel, and a new facade to be built. At last! Also DCC are expecting an application shortly for a remodelling of the Royal Dublin Hotel, and to do away with those nasty champagne coloured aluminium oriel windows, which have blighted the Street since 1968.
About one of the first comments regarding the art deco facades, I belive it is referring to the original proposal to build symmetrical flanking facades on either side in an art deco manner, in sympathy with the original central building. This would involve building from scratch on the derilict site to the right, and re-facing Dr Quirkey’s on the left, creating a balanced composition. I have a picture of it and it looks spectacular and highly inventive.
Of course, as this is Ireland, it means it cannot possibly go ahead, it might make sense you’ll understand, or perhaps actually look well. Instead we are lumped with a nasty piece of mock Victorian red brick, uPVC windowed Dr Quirkeys, the exquiste Carlton Cinema, and undoubtedly some crude pastiche on the other side, creating a lopsided, poorly finished and unbalanced composition.
Nearly exactly the same assembly process!
I was on the Street this morning, and the first time I have seen it in dazzling sunshine, it looks spectacular!!! It stands out like a beacon between buildings & streets, over the highest terraces and pierces into the smallest of gaps, vistas and vantage points. It’s blinding to look at, esp coming up Nth Earl Street, and just gets bigger and bigger as you approach (obviously!).
I’m pleased to see that those smudges and streaks mentioned many times before, appear, in the bright sunshine, simply to be markings caused by the wrapping, and will be polished off, although the factory joins are still evident; I’ll let them away on that, only barely though!
In Washington, no building is allowed to be over 14/15 storeys so as not to be taller than the dome of the Capitol Building, will similar priviliges be granted to the Spire? (discounting the Poolbeg Chimneys of course)
Its 14.28, looking out my window, no movement on crane yet.
Also in the Sunday Times, in the Culture section, Micheal Ross describes the Spire as “less a sculpture than a fetish directed towards the tourist industry as to locals, it is just another part of the commodification of Irish culture” He describes it as the least democratic of the millenium projects, allowing no public access, and typical of largely useless public projects.
Whereas I agree with the democratic aspect, whatever about the comments of Dublin ‘characters’ on TV 3 News, these remarks from a usually well informed & educated individual are disappointing.
Oh the Greg v Ciaran debates, how I enjoy them. It is extraordinary how the slightest mention of the British sends Ciaran into a frenzy, I also being a victim of his rants at an earlier time.
Enough!
Yeah, all that red paving is a bit naff, very 80s, although it does make it the only Dublin street with some warmth & character. The mock Victorian lanterns are also dated, but only because they are poor replicas, the columns themselves are original though, made in the Hammond Lane foundry in approx 1870. Decent replicas should be installed, as they are in character with Ireland’s finest and most intact Victorian street.
I should’nt be saying that I noticed this, the bulbs inside them are actually standard crappy 20w domestic energy saving bulbs! And we wonder why Dublin is so gloomy at night?!!!To clarify about the LED situation, it was originally proposed to light the tip with something like 27 floresent tubes, however it was decided to employ the technology of new LEDs that are being used across the US at the moment to replace older floodlighting and display signs. These modern LEDs have the life of approx 30 years, and so will be installed in the Spire. However, their inevitable replacement has been accounted for with the installation of an internal pully system to lower the ‘clump’ of socketry and LEDs to it’s base (inside). This internal chamber is accessed from an underground tunnel which is accessed via a ‘secret’ trapdoor in the central median, further up the street. A ladder also runs up the Spire’s interior to the point where a human can no longer fit (although for what, I don’t know)
Exceptionally narrow beams of light will be projected from the 4 corner buildings surrounding the Spire, and will be aimed at different areas to evenly spead the light. The beams are to be narrow so as to light only the Spire and not the night sky, and more importantly not the street so as not to blind pedestrians. Coloured filters would be brilliant(as mentioned before) such as green for Patricks Day etc.
These LEDs are also to be used in the hundreds of light fittings which are to be recessed into the new paving on O’ Connell Street, beneath all of it’s 250 or so new trees. and in other areas, such as the plaza outside the GPO.
The crane is expected to take 2 weeks to dissassemble and move off-site, so how long will it be before the base is offically unveiled? Presumably, we’ll also have to wait for the cast bronze base to be installed, and the surrounding paving to be laid. Considering that the paving/plaza works aren’t being started just yet, will temporary paving be laid for the offical unveiling? esp that presumably Bertie will be ‘cutting the ribbon, & that the word’s media will be present (or at least Europe’s)?The white gravel around the new trees is esp elegant. Overall, I think it looks so good because it dosn’t feel like Dublin! (the original lantern heads could have been retained, with modern halogen bulbs installed)
I was on the Street just before 7 this evening, the site worker there said they are still proposing to go ahead with it’s completion tonight, & hopefully get it finished by day-break.
I posted this before but anyway, it is proposed to have a dedicated cleaning crew (1/2 people) to clean the base of the Spire once a week, employed by the City Council.Its such a pleasant place to walk now, esp in contrast with the congested pavements across the road, esp around the Grafton Street corner. There is no excuse now for the paving not to be maintained, it should all be pressure washed 2-3 times a year, hardly much to ask. Maintenance of public spaces is the millstone around Dublin’s neck, and needs to be addressed.
