shaun
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I agree, it has something of a folly about it,maybe something in the Brasilia capital city vein, or Coucesceaus’ wedding cake palace in Bucherest. Amazing !!! Must go up and visit when I’m next over.
I believe it was originally intended to build the whole complex much larger but I think the money ran out.
This site is obviously not very much visited by people in Northern Ireland, otherwise surely someone from “up there” would have offered an opinion. It must be the Eire reference (in archeire) that is a little off-putting. Anyone know if there are any N.I. architecture sites?
Graham, the Spike should not be observed so
closely, it looks very cool and the designs at the bottom part are nice.On the subject of Trinity and cops, is it true that the gardai do not go/are not permitted to go into the grounds (at Trinity) or is this just an urban legend. This is what the dude who used to sell ounces on a Saturday morning near the cricket- field back in oh, 1983-4 told
us and you know what, we never saw a cop the whole summer long.Dublin is indeed a largely intact Victorian city, high-rise buildings aren’t appropriate in the city center. There are also large Georgian sections of the city which have survived despite been neglected for 200 years, but large parts of the Georgian town have been demolished due to total neglect.
So try and get over the high-rise thing, European cities like Dublin are built on another scale, learn to love the city for what it is.
You’re right, intoxication is an inbuilt part of life here, we’re brought up with weekend drinking and all week drug consumption, it’s a British isles thing I’m afraid. I read in the newspaper today that the Irish branch of the Freemasons
are desperate for new members, now that might be interesting for entertainment, and they have a fine building in which to do their thing up on Molesworth street, just across from
Leinster House.
Apart from entertainment, what do you think of the city, architecturally speaking ??You’ve been in Dublin for 3 years and you still don’t know what to do for entertainment ???
I must check out those buildings you refer to on York street, I’ve always loved that street, that long terrace of (tenement ?) houses and then the salvation army building at the end.
As for the infra-structure, well the problem is there is no motorway network in Ireland so all the trucks etc. are forced to go through the city centre, yes, we are about 20 years behind the rest of Europe on that one.
alan d, first of all, greetings to our Scottish friend……So how complete a Victorian city would Dublin or Belfast be in comparison with Glasgow, seeing that all three are essentially British cities that grew up when the UK consisted of all of the British Isles. I’ve haven’t been to Glasgow yet, wouldn’t mind going just to have a look at the Rennie MackIntoshs’ art school.
The best indicator of a quality architecture is a
structure that grabs you and makes you want to look at it even if it is incongruous, in Dublin one could easily site the Central Bank on Dame street as a prime example of this, and there are other examples too.
Do you pass it without looking up at it or feeling it’s gravitational pull as you walk under it ? Or when you walk through Merchants arch
from the quays and appreciate what a charming Georgian urban vista this is and then are faced with the massive block of the Central Bank as you emerge out the other side
and are struck by this daring 1970’s urban vista ? Dublin does have it moments, though I’m not sure a Dutch town-planner would have dreamed it up.I would have thought that Dublin suffered very little (architecturally) from the commercial evolutions of the 60’s and 70’s.
Compared with cities of similar size in the UK or mainland Europe commercial developement in Dublin then was minimal.
Look at the roads network in Dublin even now,
anyone driving along the Rock road every morning into town still passes Count John MacCormack’s house more than 100 years later. Not that much has changed.Dublin is still a very intact Victorian city.
