10th Annual Open House Dublin launched

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This evening, in the mid-restoration surrounds of Georgian townhouse on North Great Georges Street, the tenth annual OPEN HOUSE DUBLIN architectural celebration was launched by Heather Humphreys TD, Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.

Run by the Irish Architecture Foundation and taking place from October 16-18 2015, OPEN HOUSE DUBLIN 2015 is titled This Place We Call Home, and features almost 90 building tours – many of which are private homes – as well as 45 other events such as walking tours, talks, and exhibitions, presented for free over one weekend, all of which celebrate buildings and spaces that have altered our vision of the city, shaped how we live now and might inspire new ways of living in the future.

A highlight of this year’s programme is the Open Debate on Wednesday October 14 at 7pm (doors 6pm) entitled Housing: The Way We Build Now. A panel of high profile people from architecture and a range of other disciplines will be joined by the general public to discuss the designs, policies and practices we must pursue to meet our housing and public needs.

Speaking at the launch, Minister Humphreys said, “Open House Dublin is a wonderful opportunity to get a glimpse inside some of the city’s most beautiful and interesting buildings, including a number of family homes. The event is designed to celebrate the best of Irish architecture and it will appeal to anyone with a curious nature or an eye for good design. I have no doubt that the 2015 event will prove to be another resounding success and I would encourage as many people as possible to check out the buildings involved.”

Buildings open for the weekend include the iconic 1970s AIB Bankcentre in Ballsbridge; the show-stopping Air BnB European Hub in Dublin’s docklands, designed by Heneghan Peng; and 9/9a Aungier Street, the oldest, most intact domestic structure in Dublin, and the most popular building in last year’s Open House.

As well as building tours, Open House Dublin 2015 will include Open House Junior, a series of creative and lively events to enable young participants to play architect for the weekend, including hands-on architecture workshops in galleries and museums; Open House Plus, a series of ancillary exhibitions, walking tours and film screenings about our city’s architecture, housing and more.