Architecture & the Public Realm

Public Spaces
Irish cities and towns have the potential to reinvent themselves in a myriad of ways. Our major cities Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford are all transforming themselves. Improved transport has made our cities better
connected than ever.

The new Luas system in Dublin and proposals for upgrading the rail system and major developments at the airport in Cork all provide new and improved transport modes. There are also moves to make our cities and towns more compact. The proposals for Dublin and Cork Docklands offer the prospect of creating new commercial and residential areas and a network of new public spaces close to the city centre.

In the post-war modernist period, architects and planners ignored the public realm to concentrate on the issues raised by site-specific brief considerations. However, architects are rediscovering that it is the spaces between buildings which are the essence of the character of public life in our cities and towns.

It was by focusing on these spaces that the Earl of Leinster, John Nash, Baron Haussmann and Ildefonso Cerda created the most memorable quarters respectively in Dublin, London, Paris and Barcelona.

It is a lesson that progressive Irish architects and planning authorities are re-learning and beginning to put into effect to improve the public realm in our cities and towns.

Public Buildings
A recent addition to our cultural heritage is the new home of the Irish Architectural Archive at 45 Merrion Square.

This building is the largest terraced house on the square, located in the centre of the western edge. Built initially in the 1790s, the house was subdivided into two houses in the 1820s and suffered from unsympathetic maintenance
in almost two centuries of residential and institutional use.

Over the past two years, the historic fabric of the original building has been carefully restored by the OPW Architects Department, transforming it into a state-of-the-art home for a modern archival institution.

The building will now accommodate the Archives’ offices, staff facilities, archival processing and public areas. It also contains lecture, meeting and seminar rooms and an exhibition space, the Heinz Gallery, where the Archives’ collections can be made accessible to a far wider audience than before.

The programme for the building also included the construction of new archive stores. These have been built underground to the rear of the old house and are designed to provide the exacting storage environment demanded for the long-term preservation of paper documents in a passive way, without the use of mechanical ventilation.

The occupation of the new buildings will transform the Archive by allowing it to widen the scope of its core purpose – collecting, preserving and providing access to the records of Ireland’s architectural heritage, while making
it more accessible to a wider public.

An Architecture Quarter
Late last year the RIAI and Arts Council put forward the concept of bringing together a series of elements on Merrion Square as a Virtual Architecture Centre. On the Square there are all the elements of an Architectural Centre
including:

• The new Irish Architectural Archive headquarters;
• The RIAI offices with, in 2005, a new book shop and café;
• The Arts Council offices;
• The ESB Georgian Museum;
• The National Gallery

A proposal was put to the Arts Council for revenue funding, which would enable a person to be appointed to build up a framework for a Virtual Architectural Centre in Merrion Square and a major Architectural Festival in
October 2005.

The Arts Council has now agreed to provide funding for the project with the RIAI contributing to the salary cost of the selected individual. The Irish Architectural Archive will provide office space and backup for the
venture.

Dublin City Council has expressed interest in the proposal on the basis that the area would be branded as an Architecture Quarter and would fit in with its objective of basing more festivals in Dublin to animate the city.

It is proposed that a National Architecture Foundation should be established, consisting initially of the Office of Public Works, RIAI, AAI, Irish Architectural Archive and Dublin City Council.

This steering group would form a Board of Directors and would be responsible for the appointment of a person to organise and coordinate the various activities leading to the festival as well as providing an overall policy framework.

In addition, the person appointed would have a significant role in co-ordinating, recording and publicising various architectural activities taking place around the country.

The National Architecture Foundation and an Architectural Quarter centred on Merrion Square represent important opportunities to engage the public in architectural issues in an entirely new way. Both have the potential
to be a significant contribution to increasing the awareness of architecture among the general public.