Rory W

Well the Royal Hospital was never really suitable for a museum of Modern Art. Modern Art needs huge blank areas cf Tate Modern, not small rooms that used to be old soldiers quarters. I wouldnt be surprised if they moved to Stack A in the IFSC.

What now for the Royal Hospital I wonder – new headquarters for the Department of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht!?!?!?! especially since the plan for the other one was turned down by Charlie McCreevey.

Makes you think doesn’t it.

Seamus, what a poxy attitude to have. “lets not build it because it will look dated” sweet jesus…. As Homer Simpson once said “trying is the first step towards failure”. Such a defeatest attitude. Typically Irish might I add.

As for putting the money into organisations to do away with “mistakes” of the past – on whos taste would we rely. Yours, mine, David Norris (We could all live in mock Georgian splendour), some gobshite minister from the country (remember Jimmy Tully, if not read about him in the Destruction of Dublin). Everybody’s taste is different, I like O’Connell Bridge House. My father hates busaras etc.

I heard somewhere that they were going to proceed with an “emasculated” version of the spire by chopping 20m off the top. What a cop out.

Please build it. It is a wonderful piece of art.

Actually, the English are always lamenting the loss of their traditional pubs as much as we do.

Pubs are part of our culture, cafes are part of French culture – to say that they are not is quite ludicrous. They are not the be all and end all of our culture, but they are definitely a part of our social heritage. To say that they are an english invention is wrong – maybe the idea of legislation for them was.

Oh and this not the biggest topic (yet)!!

That Notorious area in Manchester as seen on tv . . sure you weren’t watching Coronation Street

Well the Technopole element has changed location so many time (Spencer Dock, Ringsend, and Pearse Street) that I don’t know whether or not it would be built there.

I think what I meant by lack of mixed use buildings was the lack of cultural things and any ‘draw’ elements to the area. The conference centre and offices would mostly work on a 9-5 Monday to Friday basis, but that would be it. The IFSC 1&2 are so dead and desolate at the weekend and after 6 that you would think you were in an office park in the outer suburbs.

As for the apartments they were very much of the non owner occupier model (ie small and quite unsuitable for anything more than a couple). If they build large apartments (I’m thinking ‘Fraiser’ style here) that people would want to spend actually living in, then something more than a transient population would be developed in the area. Important for sustainable development.

Actually with all the grey around phase 2 of the Ifsc makes me thing I am in a compacted version of Belfield.

On a serious note though, this is a pivitol site in the dublin Docklands and should be developed as something monumental, and not self effacing. Lets do something different. I loved the idea that Dunlow Ewart had for their Grand Canal site – but I dont know if that will go ahead given that they are selling that site and I don’t know if permission is given on it yet. I do worry that if Liam Carrol gets his paws on Dunlow Ewart that shite quality apartments (ha matchbox more like) on all their sites.

Rory W

Well what was proposed for Spencer Dock was hardly a “landmark of high quality” GregF.

The actual conference centre as designed by Roche is still unchanged.

Still hopefully they will do better that IFSC 1 & 2, it is a bit dull round here.

Rory W

Yes but this being Ireland they would have made a bags of it anyway

Well the actual problem sprung from the fact that the government set out MAXIMUM sizes for the Section 32 apartments back in the 1980s, once the developers say what people would accept they kept making them small.