manstein

The safest bicycle lane in Dublin at the moment is the Luas tracks. Its the easiest way to negotiate the quays and its a joy on Harcourt street.

Serioulsy though the absence of a dedicated bicycle lane on O’Connell Street is a disaster. Isn’t it supposed to be the widest main street in Europe or something and yet cannot accommodate bicyles. I guess we will have to wait until all multi personal motorised transportation machines (cars) are banned from a 1K radius of the spire for the streets of Dublin to be enjoyed again by all.

but i think it goes deeper than that. it is a reflection of our society where amassing wealth is more important than our living conditions. spending 4 hours in traffic a day, living in anti-social housing estates, watching dvds and ordering pizzas is not really what life should be about. there is a great book called ‘how to be idle’ 🙂 that i am reading at the moment and casts light on the absurb lives we live today. its not so much about changing housing schemes, reducing the dependence of cars but more about changing peoples attitudes.

i always thought of it as a respect issue. you have to respect your country not to litter it. we are also somewhat uneducated and lawless in our beliefs (some say as a rebellion against centuries of english rule) and don’t see the consequences of our actions. its only when someone litters and everybodies notices it does the problem stop.

i think there is a legal issue about banning gum as singapore found out ; so that whilst before it was banned now you can only buy it pharmacy stores.

@modular man wrote:

you should also read this

http://www.riai.ie/?id=5763

Enjoyed reading that. The qualities needed of an architect at the end of the article was well written.

Anyone know where i could get my hands on the DIT aptitude test of something similar on the web ?

why is that? I would have thought that CAD technicans would be in high demand or is it a case of architects doing this kinda work first before they move on…

@phatman wrote:

Who have you applied to?If you have any contacts at all you should try and first get some
experience, anywhere, before applying to any big firms – employers always prefer a bit of experience. Otherwise just keep trying, jobs aren’t always easy to come by in this profession.

quite an interesting thread which i must print out to read for the bus trip home.

my 2 cents. its easy for some people here to see what is and what has happened to the irish landscape and irish standard of living since the celtic tiger consumed all our lives and conversation. i still remember the days when property prices and its associated greed didn’t enter the conversation.
i never actually noticed before the mcmansions been built, the exposed houses on hilltops, the dvd roundabout 3 bed estates, the polished pvc windows on cottages and terraces until i went abroad for a number of years and returned this year to this country. its only when you are exposed to other cultures do you really see that like a flash gold encrusted necklace hanging around a pimps neck sometimes its too easy to spend money.

the article as written in the guardian is very true. unfortunatly too much harm has been done to the countryside to rectify it now. once you build a house it is there to stay for at least 100 years. and thats that. the one change that i can see (just because i am fammilar with the area) happening is a rediscovery of northside dublin therefore transforming this forgotten area into a old world treasure. by that time, taste and common sense will have prevailed thereby retaining its existing character of redbrick terraces.

i hate being a pessimist but i sure hope that the boom does not bust but if is does those travelling 2/3 hours commutes from soul-less negative equity estates will realise what a mess we have built. the only worthwile memento from the years of consumerism will be a simple spike on connell street.

@Lotts wrote:

The article had it right. Planning in this country is a shambles. The path of development we are on signifies a crass, ignorant and selfish society with no ideals left to aspire to.

Recently I was on a flight over Germany and was (as always) fascinated at the landscape, with rural towns and villages composed of clusters of buildings and the surrounding fields almost entirely unbroken until the next town. Down on the ground the high quality local roads that run between villages do not have houses along them and are all the better for that. Driving is a pleasure, driving through beautiful farmland scenery unspoilt by mcmansion after mcmansion and the associated gates and entrances.

At night the roads are not all floodlight the way they are here as the cars have headlights on them and people use these to see the way. So even though a motorway may be not far away you can still see the night sky. Which is nice. Something that we don’t have anymore in the city of Dublin, but something you should be able to expect if you are in the countryside.

The German use of land just seems so much more intelligent – and of course this is not limited to Germany. I noticed the same thing flying over the Netherlands – and this an area that we learnt of in school as being nearly all one big “conurbation” (and I remember thinking as we learnt this that god the dutch ruined their country!)

On a slightly positive point I’ve also noted that Ireland when seen from the air is not a total write off and there are very large areas that can of course be seen as rural. This may be what stira has in mind when saying that outside of Dublin there is nothing but countryside. The problem that you will see however is that every road in Ireland is a ribbon of development on both sides. And anywhere there’s a view it is spoilt by one off housing or holiday ‘vilages’. The result is that as you travel through Ireland outside of Dublin you find it increasingly difficult to experience the countryside. All the places that are accessible have been spoilt (not developed – spoilt). This did not need to be so and we could have looked to other countrys for example and plan development towards what we want or at the very least avoided the many obvious mistakes.

FIN – developer may well be driven by profit, but the market is not the only factor he needs to consider – he needs to address the regulatory framework he operates in and the law of the land. The sums are indeed skewed towards building crap inthe wrong place. This is where planning fits in and is where we are being let down with permanent damage to our counrty.

Not to distract from the thread but is the production scheduled for the Gate Theatre. Going to see Mrs Windermeres fan but would love to see The Importance of Being Earnest again..

@roskav wrote:

Hello I’m flummouxed. I need to find a location for a publicity photoshoot, for an upcoming procuction in the Abbey (Importance of being Earnest). Does anyone know of a hotel/cafe in Dublin City centre which would approximate French Art Nouveau?… I know we have Cafe en Seine etc but it just doesn’t cut the mustard.. I need something reasonably authentic. All I’m looking to do is position a table and chair in front of something like a window or entrance. I’d appreciate any suggestions!

@Thomond Park wrote:

Regarding your question, I don’t think anyone can answer that with any certainty but it would appear that the interconnector has overtaken the RPA Dublin Airport ‘Metro’ as the number one priority in Dublin rail transport infrastructure.

I would have thought that the metro would be more important addition rather than the interconnector. Dublin is the leading capital in Europe but initial impressions of the city are always going to be tainted when they discover that there are no tube or underground service serving the city centre but have to avail of a double deck Bus. I hoped it is done before the inevitable bust comes.