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Aisling Cleary
Aisling Cleary is an Associate Architect at FaulknerBrowns and played a key role in the establishment of the Dublin studio. With a focus on complex mixed-use, masterplanning and sport projects, current work includes St. James’s Gate Guinness Quarter, the Sport Ireland Campus masterplan and the new Irishtown Leisure Centre. Aisling leads the Irish IAKS (International Association for Sports and Leisure Facilities) group, which promotes the design of sustainable, low-carbon and inclusive sports facilities and urban spaces. Aisling is a tutor at TU Dublin and an examiner on the professional practice programme.
LinkedIn: Aisling Cleary
An Athbhliain / The New Year
As we emerge from the dreamy haze of the festive season and look for ideas to inspire the new year ahead, it feels appropriate to visit ‘GOD’, the first collaborative exhibition of Bea McMahon and Conor McFeely at The Complex. Navigating between altered states of consciousness and perceived physical reality, the exhibition seeks to observe the dream as a new lens of perception. The focus on the process of bringing artists together to develop work in conversation, in this case Bea from Dublin and Conor from Derry, is noted by the curator of the multi-disciplinary arts centre as holding greater value than any work produced. The exhibition continues until the 17th January.
Moving north from Dublin to Derry, FARMWORK at Void Arts Centre presents a selected body of work by Deirdre O’Mahony, opening January 11th. Addressing themes including the politics of landscape and the impact of agricultural policies on climate change, Deirdre’s work echoes the key challenges that we as architects and designers must continue to tackle as we work towards a sustainable, low-carbon environment.
This year’s Open House Europe Summit will be hosted in Dublin by the Irish Architecture Foundation on the 30th and 31st of January. Titled The City Invites, the two-day event will explore how inclusion and accessibility can help shape our built environment into vibrant, welcoming spaces for all.
I’m looking forward to the continued AAI Housing Solutions series, where industry leaders offer crucial insights into new concepts for housing design and supply. Pia Ilonen of Talli Architects, Helsinki, will give a talk in late January, with further details to follow on the AAI page. Subsequent speakers in the series include Leipzig-based Summacumfemmer and Heide & von Beckerath of Berlin.
Commencing this year’s AAI Site Visit Series is a tour of the ambitious New Children’s Hospital. Upon completion, the hospital will be Ireland’s largest ever healthcare project. Guided tours of the world-class facility will take place on January 18th.
I will leave you with some inspiration for the new year from one of Ireland’s finest and most fearless writers; Blue Road – The Edna O’Brien Story will open in cinemas on Friday 31st January, showing at the IFI. This documentary portrait, completed before the authors’ death last year, illustrates her extraordinary life and groundbreaking work. Edna O’Brien’s constant struggle for truth in a patriarchal society opened the door for future generations of Irish women, writers and artists to come.
