To coincide with the publication of More Than Concrete Blocks. Volume 3 (1973 – 1999) (eds. Ellen Rowley/Carole Pollard), Dublin City Council, and UCD School of Architecture Planning and Environmental Policy in collaboration with ICOMOS Ireland are organising a symposium on Dublin city's late 20th-century architecture and its future. The symposium is supported by the Heritage Council County Heritage Plan Grant Scheme. We also wish to acknowledge the generous support of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. The symposium has been designed to align with the objectives of the National Policy on Architecture and the New European Bauhaus.
Our day-long symposium on Friday 3rd November 2023, will be prefaced by an evening lecture on Thursday 2nd November 2023. Taken together, these two events present an opportunity to reflect upon the potential, upon the adaptability and upon the general treatment of late 20th-century architecture in Dublin city, in light of climate change. Bringing forth international examples, through our keynote speakers, we set up important local examples and invite architects, historians and building users to tell their building stories.
Event 1
The ICOMOS Ireland Maura Shaffrey Annual Memorial Lecture, 2023
2nd November 2023, 18h00, Hibernia Conference Hall, Dublin Castle
Susan MacDonald, Head of Buildings and Sites, Getty Conservation Institute will present a paper entitled 'Conserving Twentieth-century Heritage for an Equitable, Sustainable Future.'
Event 2
Generous Architectures: More Than Concrete Blocks Volume 3 + the Circular Economy
3rd November 2023, 9h00 – 18h00, City Assembly House, South William Street
(live-streamed on Zoom)
** Due to space restrictions, please only reserve one space either online or in-person**
There is a growing urgency to address the future of much of Dublin's building stock from the 1970s, 1980s, and to an extent from the1990s in the context of climate change. The circular economy, as it might inform material choices and the adaptability of buildings, must lead the charge. In many cases the buildings from the period are considered too new to protect and too old or obsolete by contemporary building standards. Often, they are judged according to narrow concepts of architectural taste.
GENEROUS ARCHITECTURES brings together architectural historians, architects, building managers and planners who are responding to this urgency for a wide-ranging public discussion. The gathering foregrounds the architectural history of More Than Concrete Blocks Volume 3, focusing on the 1970s, 1980s and the 1990s. There will be papers by the leading authors and editors of this research project: Dr Ellen Rowley’s paper ‘Back to the Streets with New Homes from Old Stock’ will discuss lesser known housing projects from the period; Dr Carole Pollard will consider the predicament of Dublin's office blocks in her paper ‘1970s office blocks, the losses and the gains’; and Merlo Kelly will discuss the architectural framework plan and interventions of the Group 91 consortium of architects in ‘Temple Bar - Intervention + Reanimation.’
Friday’s keynote speakers come from Britain and the Czech Republic. Simon Sturgis, an architect and specialist in delivering a low carbon, resource efficient built environment, and will give a talk entitled ‘Retain and Refurbish: How the past can save the future.’ Dr Petr Vorlik is an architect and historian of modern architecture (Faculty of Architecture, CTU Prague) and he will give a paper, ‘Public Buildings as Key’ on the high value placed on public buildings in Czechia; the care of which represent the biggest challenge for a socially and environmentally sustainable future.
In the afternoon, Generous Architectures will take the direction of a ‘slam’ entitled, Climate-Building-Time. This session comprising seven 10-minute presentations will focus on specific technical challenges or innovations experienced in designing, conserving, upgrading or adapting office buildings, while highlighting the energy efficiency upgrading of public housing and rethinking the future of a large city centre enterprise campus. Speakers include Bernard Gilna (Gilna Architecture) on the Green Building Temple Bar, Ronan Phelan (Scott Tallon Walker) on Miesian Plaza (the former Bank of Ireland, Baggot Street), Jennifer Crossman (Trinity College Dublin) on the Trinity East (Trinity Enterprise Centre), John Dobbin (Shay Cleary Architects)on converting offices to housing, Paschal Mahoney (Mahoney Architecture) on the New Ireland Assurance Company, Brendan Ward (Henry J Lyons) on the former Central Bank, and Ali Grehan (Dublin City Architect) on Dublin City Council's public housing energy upgrading programme.
Sharing the final session with Petr Vorlik, Paul Tierney, the architectural photographer of the More Than Concrete Blocks series will examine the representation of modernist architectural heritage in the city in a talk called ‘20th-century Survey Photography: contesting representation of the modern city.’
Deirdre Scully, Dublin City Planner will provide the concluding remarks.
Recognised for CPD points by the Irish Planning Institute and Engineers Ireland. Promoted by the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland through CPD Links.
** Due to space restrictions at the symposium, please only reserve one space either online or in-person**
General Info