Maud
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Maud
ParticipantGosh, I’m amazed at the amount of bad feeling that people have towards O’Connell St. I know it has long been a kip and there are a lot of dodgy types around there (I’ve had my wallet stolen 3 times on that street) but I LOVE those 20th century buildings – ones that were built by the Free State government. I never used to give a crap about Irish history but now that I know a bit about it I love walking up and down O’Connell Street. It evokes Free State, 1920s and 1930s Ireland for me. I love the Gresham, The Carlton, The Savoy, Clerys, Ulster Bank etc. Dr .Quirkeys is absolutely sickeningly disgusting, however, and the present use for the Carlton – especially in terms of the signage! – is an absolute disgrace. Buildings like that are of such social historical (if that makes sense) significance and should be considered as such. Also, I think the Dublin Bus HQ is okay, it’s design represents what was happening architecturally (I presume) in it’s era, it has stained glass designed by Evie Hone on it’s frontage and I really like that!
Maud
ParticipantI used to work in Stoneybatter and when I first started working around there it was so drab and depressing. Even so, I used to like the fruit and vegetable market in Smithfield and there was a man selling plants outside it everyday – plenty of people browsing all the time (but not pretentious yuppy types obviously). I agree that the new apartment development was gentrification in it’s purest form and the cafes and the supermarket Fresh were clearly aimed at well-healed types. As someone working locally, though, I really appreciated the new seating area beside the supermarket as there was nowhere clean to sit and eat lunch before. I also agree that the events hosted there now are not being properly promoted – I used to just stumble across these things on my way to and from work, I wouldn’t have realised anything was happening there otherwise and it’s so handy to get to, as a venue, from the city centre.
I wish they would restore those old (18th century?) buildings too. Can’t believe we had the whole celtic tiger thing and they are still derelict. What a shame.Maud
ParticipantMaybe I’m architecturally illiterate or something but the first scheme looks much better to me than the latest. The latest one looks a bit gimmicky, it jars with the fruit market buildings, I think simply because the proposed buildings are close to (distance-wise) the modest 19th century ones. It looks a bit claustrophobic. A little children’s park in front of the market would have been lovely, and very civic! Then the new buildings wouldn’t look like they are about to topple over onto the market buildings. Oh well, I know space is always an issue with these developments!
It’s so true, as someone pointed out, that the 19th century buildings really show up the blandness of the proposed ones.Maud
Participant@Emma Dalton wrote:
“…interventions in public spaces, or rather, in public landscapes, should no longer be focused on generating greenery. The real challenge is to create space and textures for city dwellers to colonize in their town. Nature can play a role in this, but not, a priori, the main roleâ€.
Oh my God i’m horrified! 😮 How can a person be so dismissive of the importance of green amenity space and nature? A green space is like an oasis in an urban environment. I wouldn’t like him to have the power to design my urban environment for me! Where would we get our relief? By going into cafe’s to buy expensive coffees and getting our colour stimulation in clothes shops? It’s all so wrong.
What would be the advantage not providing a fully pedestrianised route from one end of the city to the other? What would we do, sit in traffic for hours or get flattened on our bicycles? Honestly, the elitist “People are just insects” attitude of some architects makes me worry. If I’ve got the wrong end of the stick, feel free to correct me.
Maud
ParticipantThe new Tate modern building(as shown alongside the Kildare civic offices on this website!) would be more appropriate in my opinion because it is organic and does not appear to be corporate and typically city type architecture.
I know that the Kildare offices look amazing when they are lit up at night with the green light shining through them but I don’t think that is enough to make it a satisfying building(for me). I’m sorry for losing my patience but I’m just honestly bored with that type of thing. It depresses me a bit. It’s just all the same on the face of it. But then I’m prone to feeling miserable about things so maybe it’s just me!
Maud
ParticipantOh for goodness sake!
Maud
ParticipantI bloody am familiar with Naas and it really annoys me that some people would want ‘City-type’ developments in Co. Kildare. That is completely inappropriate and disgusts me. I wish people would have a bit more imagination. I realise that in reality the building might be very impressive but to me it looks like just another boring steel and glass structure. Bland.
Maud
ParticipantIt looks a bit miserable to me. It’s out in the countryside and yet it looks really corporate and grey as if it belongs in a city.
Maybe it’s just the photos though. When I heard about it first(my Dad described it to me!) I thought it sounded so exciting.
Are you gonna shoot me now?!
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