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It is increasing unlikely that an Irish Architect will be called upon to complete major projects like this beause of the desire to be instantly marketable. Even where competitions are held it appears that this alternative way of procuring ideas and designs is fraught with other difficulties.
Regardless of the beautiful CAD rendering the project is not necessarily that good, to warrant an approval. The idea of a complete glass building with crystalline modules is neither unique nor conducive to a beautiful streetscape.
The alternative model to the current version could have been 53 multimodal representations of the state with a one-stop shop for every department, tax, revenue etc. That would have been meaningful. The model, which we have adopted, is a decentralised centrality with various departments or fiefdoms operating out of various new centres. There was/is an opportunity to rethink the whole idea of democratic relationships. Instead of more obscure centres of bureaucracy this cold have been the equivalent of town square council representation of government in action.
There are lots of other architects who would be interested. Perhaps to answer Alan’s quest and the referral system that is being generated it would be easier to run a series of small competitions through Archeire, funded by fees. Look how much the DDDA got in fees for the U2 tower.
The original book was called “Bungalow Bliss”, by Frank Fitzsimons, I believe. This title was bastardised (perhaps appropriately) in a series of now famous articles in the Irish Times by Frank McDonald called Bungalow Blitz. These date back to the early 1980’s.
Sorry even in a private house there are compliance issues. The “misstep” is allowed but only under certain restrictions in the building regulations. Of course you could ignore the regulations but I would hate to think what would happen if a visitor or guest in the house fell on a stairs that did not meet code.
“My understanding was that at least a very large proportion of the Wolfe Tone Park was a DCC park that was surrounded by railings. I never entered this space as I found it most uninviting so I was unaware as to the existence of any graveyard or headstones.” The space is/was a graveyard. None of the bodies have been removed. The “park” was railed off and the tombstones were moved to the edges and along the “FAS” wall. This is not an issue regarding whether the religious use of the church can pay its way. It is rather what is an appropriate use. A community resource, exhibition space or other public activity may have been more appropriate than a bar. And similarly a public space use that respects the dead might be more use. On a practical level the “square” does not appear to deal with uses such as theatre and French foods as can be seen by the lack of robustness of the green “beach” and the fixity of the benches determining the zones of occupation.
What leaked memos and where can they be read? Also was there a news item on eircom.net yesterday regarding the instability of the spire in high winds?
A couple of points:
Wolfe Tone Square is over a graveyard, bodies still interred. As a “sacred” space it is being poorly considered. Fairs, theatre and other events over this ground is I believe problematic. The secularisation of the spiritual confirmed by the conversion of the church to a super pub will destroy a very important link with the past.
Parnell Square was a pleasure garden, which funded the laying in hospital but was separate. The activities, particularly at night were considered unsavoury. This was “pleasure†of the widest (wildest) possible description. Ironic that it is the site for remembering revolution.Alan,
the 20th Century Architecture Ireland book was interesting from what was left out as what was included. Irish architecture is split along a number of particular factions which does not foster openness. As for those getting published the real thing is a different story with works with both architecturally and physical problems. Whatever about a picture being the equivallent of 1000 words, architects get to pick the picture and therefore get to choose the 1000 words. Not everything is as it seems.
Silence, all is silent…. Where are all the comments? The exhibition ended on Sunday. The works only confirmed the shallowness of the approaches. Scary, but SOM looked the strongest and was illiciting the most positive views. Certainly from a massing point of view it deals with the local and Macro issues. Some of the technical submissions were woeful. Also few seemed to consider how appropriate it would be to provide open decked areas in one of the most windy places in Ireland.
