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Maremoto

Imbolc / Spring 

The shortened, introspective days of winter are now behind us and we want to celebrate this month’s Diary by embracing two culturally significant aspects of the beginning of spring. 

Looking throughout Ireland and beyond, we start with Lá Fhéile Bríde’s association with fertility, health and fortune. Next, the Lunar New Year’s welcome to the Year of the Snake, symbolising wisdom, transformation and resilience. We hope our selection for this month’s events offers both introspective and outward looking experiences for all. 

This weekend packs a punch, with events including a straw weaving workshop at Collins Barracks and a walking tour celebrating Women’s Lives Hidden in Buildings starting at 14 Henrietta Street for Brigit. Then, catch a free screening of The Last Dance, a film by Anselm Chan, to mark the Lunar New Year at the Chester Beatty. 

Looking ahead and to our colleagues in Ulster, Roisin McCann’s Designing a Better Future, Together on February 7th, as part of the RSUA’s My Architecture talk series, will bring Marshall McCann Architects’ work and philosophy to an open forum. Talking points will no doubt include their commitment to ethical practices, integrity, authenticity, and transparency, and their approach to architecture through environmental sustainability. 

If you happen to find yourself across the Irish Sea, the UK Craft Council will hold their Collect Art Fair at Somerset House in London from February 28th – March 2nd. The showcase will include the work of Laois architect & maker Alan Meredith who has been shortlisted for the 2025 Brookfield Properties Craft Award. 

Naturally, reflecting on the future of architecture & society in Ireland brings us to the ongoing AAI’s lecture series Housing Solutions. The upcoming lecture with Heide & von Beckerath in Trinity College on February 20th will focus on the evolution of housing in Berlin over the last 30 years through the practice’s work. 

Explore Ireland’s shared urban cultural history as exhibited at the IAF’s national tour of The Reason of Towns in Thurles, Co. Tipperary until February 7th . Also, join the AAI’s Site Visit of the DCU’s Polaris Building to see an exemplar in educational architecture on February 8th. 

Our last two recommendations are both introspective and outward looking, complexly woven together by history and a shared global experience of the past and the future. 

Brady Corbet’s film The Brutalist portrays László Tóth, a fictional Bauhaus-trained architect and Hungarian-born Jewish Holocaust survivor, who emigrates to the USA and struggles to achieve the American Dream. The film is in cinemas now and is 215 minutes long, so plan your drinks, snacks and bathroom breaks accordingly. 

Finally, we invite our colleagues to reflect on the future of Palestine, its society and its architecture as the unavoidable images of the total devastation of the Gaza Strip flood our screens big and small. Architects for Gaza launched the Gaza Global University project in 2024 and we hope you will consider volunteering your time and knowledge. Perhaps in the reconstruction of Palestine, we can stand closer as a global architectural community and welcome a better future as we welcome spring today. 

In the words of the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins: “The arrival of the Year of the Snake…is a time for reflection, renewal, and hope, a time to honour the values of inclusivity, community and solidarity we hold dear, as we all strive to create a better world and a society built on fairness and equality”. 

Beannachtaí Imbolc 

maremoto.