urbanisto
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Not sure what this has to do with the usual topiscs discussed here CutePanda but for what is worth many people (other than the few you mention) would have concerns about nuclear power. Sure its a vitually poillution free source of energy…as long as you dont count the waste. Or the distruction caused by mining for the uranium (someone elses problem). Or the fact that uranium is a finite resource and if we were all to jump on the nuclear bandwagon (China and India especially) it wouldnt last more than 50 years based on current known sources. And how come the Germans have opted out of nuclear energy if its such a great solution.
Personally I have never found Duncan Stewart patronising…. in fact he is one of the few voices in the Irish media highlighting environmental issues. Same goes for the Greens. There is no way Dick Roche would push environmental issues unless there was a green political constituency to tap into.
If its the standard JC Decaux stuff then I imagine you will have a map on one face and adverts on another. Perhaps the CC are going to install those large advertising “pillars” that are so common on the continent. And heritage plaques….like the Baileys Malton series. Why cant signage etc just be provided in a clear, conhesive and logical manner without the need to turn it into signage. Also despite this announcement I have seen no end to the “programme” of installing empty and unused galvenised steel poles in the city. Pearse St is the latest victim…
The clock looks incredible. Its one of those things that are little noticed and then suddenly you get a clear view. The builidng will look wonderful on Mon, although I share your views on the lighting scheme.
I was thinking about those large column lights: I wonder where they actually ever positioned? Or was it dimely a case of install them thinking the should look like that. What about using the same model on College Green. Any opinions?
You guys amaze me sometimes with your knowledge of something as obscure (pardon the pun) as glass. I would never have imagined that the subject could be so complex. I think its would certainly be worth while contacting the Heritage Officer at DCC regarding this. It certainly woldnt be the average planners highest priority when assessing works such as these but I accept that the glass should be retained as much as is possible. Well done for opening a window onto the subject :rolleyes:
I think that while the aspiration behind the whole plan should be applauded it does seem to smack a bit of a “hastily put together / not fully thought out/ already announced schemes” plan. I also dont like the branding- whats wrong with The Liberties? An ancient and unique city quarter. Certainly more distinctive than SoHo. Changing the name seems such an easy way of covering over the less savory aspects of an area rather than actually dealing with them. There are also very few actually particulars on how the CC will address some of the larger issues facing the quarter, such as traffic and built form (as you rightly mention Devin, although these are surely citywide problems). At least there is a recognition that more family-friendly design is required to keep families in the city (all ties in nicely with a Frank McD piece about the same and Vancover
Would OPW be any help seeing as they are responsible for many of the state buildings with copper domes?
Its nothing to do with “out with the old, in with the new” lomb. Its about good design. There are plenty of excellent contemporary designs out there whihc contribute to the street rather than turn it into something tacky and tasteless. Its not just the folks here saying it, the City Council think so too. It was one of the central rationales behind the O
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Very interesting. Perhaps i will write a post on it once I get to see more. Some really interesting comparisons with Dublin already.
I was beginning to wonder if we would ever see this project come on. I wonder will the Mahon Bridge be tackled at the same time (the section of Pearse Street at Grand Canal Dock)
As a student of planning I would have to agree wholeheartedly with this. Design just isn’t given anything near the prominence it should have in the Spatial Planning course. Little or no drawing, No CAD, No Architectural appreciation. Im in Germany at the moment and the situation could not be more different. And it shows in the built environment where good design the norm.
A little bulky? What an understatement. Its a lovely old facade with a mess behind it. No form, no sympathetic redesign of the site just a big bulk of bricks and mortar. A missed opportunity. Very much in keeping with the new Laughter Lounge on Eden Quay.
Judging from past repaving (Henry St etc) they’ll probably stay there. It depends on whether or not there is a cellar underneath. I agree they look terrible. They could at least be replaced and the new ones lit from below. The gallery on Pearse Street does this quite well with purple lighting.
There are still so many things to be done on OConnell Street.. paving works aside. The JWT corner is also sorely in need of some proactive action by the Council. Its a disgrace, more so because it leads on to the premier shopping street of the city.
Its tsill hard to see what the street will be like on Friday. I had thought that lating the kerbing would have been completed so that at last most of the trenches could have been filled in. At the very least the median should be completed to allow the maximum amount of people on to the street.
As some sections near completion its worrying to see the amount of clutter and signage increasing. Why all those ugly signal boxes? Does every crossing really need that many lights? Has anyone even noticed the lump of (newly laid) pavement taken out outside Supermacs? (its a pool of water this morning… the Dark Pool) I imagine that the bus stops currently located on the Plaza will be relocated once the upper pavements are completed. And the kiosks, taxi shelter, bus shelters have all still to be put in. It we are not careful it will soon be impossible to see any of the fine new vistas on the street.
The wraps are off the GPO and it looks magnificent. Some last minute touched are required such as reinstaing the two lanterns and (hopefully) giving the bollards out front a lick of paint. Otherwise the building has been well worth the wait and is ready in time for the Parade. One point: there doesnt seem to be any floodlighting in place and I wonder if this feature has been dropped.
Elsewhere work on the street is flying along. Large sections of the pavement are complete and lamposts and trees are being installed in Upper OCSt today. I imagine the median will be cleared and ready for the 17th as well as sections of the footpath and the rest will be completed in the month folloiwng. I think well see a fully finished street by April!
From the RTE website
The High Court has rejected an application for an injunction which would effectively have stopped work on the M3 motorway.
The injunction would have possibly led to its re-routing from the Tara/Skryne Valley in Co Meath.
In his reserved judgement today, Mr Justice Thomas Smith rejected the application by campaigner Mr Vincent Salavia on all grounds.
The judge ruled that Mr Salavia had delayed in taking his legal action and that he did not have the legal standing to take the action in the first place.
The judge also ruled that the Minister for the Environment, Dick Roche, did not err in granting licences to allow archaeological works to proceed on 36 sites in the valley
Ah yeah….thats the way things work. I thought it looked a bit crass myself. Im not sure if repeating it on the other side might mitigate the obtrusiveness of the original?
Next door the former National Ballroom got a paint job but not much else. I’m looking forward to seeing the whole gallery completed. Its been renamed to the Dublin City Gallery: The Hugh Lane. I quiet liked the sound of Municipal Art Gallery myself!
Moving up to Parnell Street…a hive of activity these days. DCC have a notice up to demolish the three council blocks on Lwr Dominick Street and the corner element on Parnell St. A new mixed use development is going up. Anyone have any idea whats being proposed.
Also that eyesore beside Jurys is being developed – 8 storeys.
And! Mary Harney and Co are set to move to Chapel House (part of the Penneys redevelopment) soon thus vacating poor auld Hawkins House.
The Hugh Lane Gallery refurb is almost complete. The glass extension is finished and the crew are just giving teh former National Ballroom a spruce up. The sign was removed and the wood and metal painted but personally I think the brickwork needs some cleaning especially the top which is covered in moss.
Also the Rotunda Hospital announced a development plan for the hospital very much in line with what the overall plan calls for. There’s a long completion time but it is good to see a cohesive strategy taking shape.
Anyone get in to the open day? It was quite well attended. However…
What struck me most was what a complete sham it was. Option A has alreday been chosen..the RPA guy more or less admitted it. The others are just ‘options’ for people to look at: ‘You have to have options’. However the options range from daft (E – whats the point), to completely unfeasable (C – all those narrow windy streets, archeaology, protected structures needing knocking, etc) to more feasible options (A & D) and a good if overlong B.
I have a couple of points:
As a planning exercise this consulation fails. The Line BX (in RPA-speak) is meant to continue on to meet the Maynooth line under T21. However none of the maps even indicated a potential route so it is hard to get any overall picture of how the segment will fit into a greater Luas scheme.As one woman mentioned, none of the options put forward were timed. Length yes but no mention of how long it would take to travel from the Green to O’Connell St via Pearse.
As my prefered option is D I asked about the costs of a bridge over the Liffey at Malborough St/ Hawkins St. From €15 was the answer which seems astounding. The price went up of course if an architectural statement was required. No-one seemed to be aware of the fact that the City Council have already mooted the idea of a pedestrian link here (part of the OConnell IAP if I’m not mistaken)
The RPA also suggested that using Malborough Street for Luas – which I personally feel has huge merit seeing as it is currently a delapidated buspark – is full of problems as it is too narrow (!!) and the ability to connect to the extension to Broadstone would be more difficult (although as mentioned above no idea what route this will follow).
Using O’Connell Street will require the whole median to be redesigned including the loss of all the trees currently being planted, narrowing the amount of pedestrian space on the median, perhaps even reducing traffic to one lane each way (not so bad until you realise that most Dublin Bus services seem to go down OCSt these day – arguement for another day), and introducing a wirescape along the street encompassing all the monuments (and eeh the Spire???)
No-one knew anything about using a similar power system to Bordeaux which would eliminate wirescapes in the city centre…but it sounded like a great idea! However when I pointed out that you were potentially going to ruin one of the most iconic Dublin streetscapes with wires and poles and signage (College Green) the answer was that after a while nobody would notice them and you can always airbrush them out for postcards. You can imagine I left feeling slightly peeved.
I also commented on how dead Abbey St looked since Luas took over. No cars to fill all that Chinese grey granite space. A few trees and some more imagination in how the public space is used would have done wonders but aparently trees get in the way! Says it all.
Anyhow despite all the above Im going with option D. Hopefully many more people at least get involved an say there piece.
Im terrible!
Anyhow, what I wanted to ask was how many of you think that:
a) the street will be completed for St Patricks Day
b) the street will more or less be complete, the paving finished just some final snagging, or
c) neither of the above but most definately all set for the Easter Rising Parade on 19 April (I think it is)After all I remeber way back in 2004 when the first section was being constructed there was a masive burst of activity to get the place ready for the (abandoned) street party to mark the new EU accession states. God May 2004 and here we are still up to our eyes in roadworks in Feb 2006. Still not long now….
On a small note anyone noticed the worrying ‘creep’ of signposts into the street. The Plaza is being slowly populated with them..hopefully only temporarily. However in Dublin with ‘temporary signage’ the signs are usual removed but the lovely pole remains…just in case…never know when it might come in handy.
