Askew
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I agree wholeheartedly with you. The space just seems too long and narrow now without th e trees. I will say that I like the viewing platform on the chimney, but I do think that the the space is going to turn into one of those civic spaces without any citizens
You know what I found surprising was the lack of promotion of the TV programme online. There is no mention of the show on the RIAI website and they’re supposedly one of the programmes advisors.
It was indeed a good article, asking many relevant questions of us and what we are doing to Ireland and Dublin.
It is indeed a pity that now, as there was in the early days of this state, that there exists little or no official interest in architecture from the government. In the 1930s, Government Ministers regularly attended AAI lectures, and architecture was used to put forward an image of the state. Look at the contrasting buildings of the Department of Commerce, Kildare St and Stormount Castle in Belfast to see how two governments of states of similar age but with different attitudes and aims portrayed their ambitions through architecture. Stormount is a massive and heavy example of an old architecture while Kildare Street although still rooted in the past has a more streamlined and modernistic feel.
But now, there is no such representation of the state through its architecture, or a realisation in the government ranks that Ireland can be presented as well through good modern architecture as any amount of Riverdance / Bord Failte / Celtic Tiger self-promotion.
I would agree whole-heartedly with you. Pearse St and Westland Row are a disgrace. Trinity contributed in no small way to the death of Pearse Street by closing up all the shop units for extra lab / storage space. Pearse St was once a thriving shopping street until the removal of the theatre and department store at the Tara Street end.
On both streets, the college is fortunate is owning two reasonably coherent streetscapes, which they have proceeded to neglect. It is indeed a pity, when the College is forever commissioning new modern work from architects, that they cannot put aside a portion of their building & maintainance budget to give these buildings a clean up.
In my own opinion, this would be a great advance, but:
a) How many developers would want people to be able to discuss and understand their development on a website. Imagine, it could become a breeding ground for discontent and be the incubator for community focus groups trying to stop development. And wouldn’t that be a bad thing
b) As many firms still do their drawings in CAD, as 3D walkthroughs are still expensive and completely unfeasible for all but the largest developments, we would still be faced with the “I don’t understand the drawings ” syndrome. Even as an experienced plan reader, it still takes me a few minutes to get my head around drawings and that’s when I have the drawings in my hands.
I definitely think it’s an idea for the future. Building developers should however embrace this idea now as its a good way to defuse arguments and rumours about a development by being open from the start of the planning process. Placing all of the design details online would be a start. As it’s normally the bigger developments that cause all the grief, creating walkthroughs etc would be worth it in terms of PR and reduced legal fees.
I must admit that I am really looking forward to this to see their approach; if it is downright populist or aimed at architects and those with more than a passing interest.
It will be interesting to discuss the programmes on this board.
Taste is a strange thing. One man’s thoughts could be hated by someone else. You will find that it is impossible to make a definitive statement that ”
is Dublin’s most beautiful building”. Different things can detract from one building in favour of another – its surrounding environment, its neighbours, its use……Frequently when asked, people will opt for the populist choice out of poor faith in their own judgement or architectural knowledge. Questions or polls like this do tend to put people on the spot, and when faced with seemingly more knowledgeable people, react accordingly. While saying that, I like EC’s choices especially the Carroll’s building, a fine canal side 1960’s office block and the similarly sites Irish Life [now Pelican House]. As EC points out, the joy here is to the rear containing a water feature sculpture and decorative mosaics on the structure.
