Lecture Topic:
The renowned Irish architect Robin Walker declared in 1977, “Change is the reality, progress is a myth.” The eponymous book published by Canalside Press in 2021 examines in detail Walker’s architectural philosophy as well as his friendship with Seamus Heaney, and their shared “late modernist” fascination with religion and myth. The themes of national identity and universal culture are examined in relation to Walker’s writing and buildings, including in particular Bothar Bui, a holiday house that he built for his family in West Cork. Patrick Lynch will discuss the house in the context of contemporaneous late modernist architectural projects and attempt to describe Walker’s influence upon his own architectural imagination.
settle:
The lecture takes place within ‘settle’ - a temporary installation designed and conceived by TRESTLE that proposes a new public interior for gathering and collective experience in the contemporary city. Inspired by the functionalism and adaptability of Irish vernacular furniture, the installation explores how an infrastructure of considered objects can formulate a new, albeit temporary, public interior. The installation can be recast and reformatted to host a variety of events and gatherings – in this way it acts as an extended invitation to the city. settle was the recipient of a 2025 Arts Council Architecture Project Award and runs in Cork City from 29 July – 8 August 2026 with a programme of events.
TRESTLE is a studio for architecture and research based between Ireland and London. The practice defines architecture as landscapes, cities, buildings, rooms and objects. TRESTLE was founded by Tom Cookson and Sarah Carroll in 2025.
Biography:
Patrick Lynch was born in England to an Irish father and an English mother. He studied architecture at the universities of Liverpool and Cambridge, theology and philosophy at Oxford, and completed a PhD at London Met with Peter Carl and Joseph Rykwert. This research led to the books Civic Ground (2017) and Mimesis (2015). He has taught at a number of schools of architecture including the AA, UCL and Cambridge. He founded Lynch Architects in 1997 and Canalside Press in 2018. Canalside Press have published several books of architectural history and theory including Change is the Reality: The Work of Robin Walker Architect (2021), and Part of a City: The Work of Neave Brown Architect (2022). Patrick is a member of RIAI and RIBA and lives in London. He is also a poet.
Practice:
Lynch Architects are based in Hackney, east London, and are run by directors Patrick and Claudia Lynch and David Evans. Their work ranges from large scale housing and office projects to small houses and government buildings, and increasingly focuses on renovation of listed structures and on the rehabilitation of modernist city sites as urban gardens. The practice has exhibited at Venice and Milan, and their work has been widely published. Recent awards include the RIAI International Award for Westminster Coroner’s Court (2025), RIBA East Conservation Award and House of the Year Shortlist for Janke’s Barn (2025). They also won the World Architecture Festival award for best office for The Zig Zag Building (2016). Current projects include three blocks of flats for Hackney Council (2028), and the renewal and conversion of a 17th century house into a home and arts centre in Hackney (2026).
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